Blessings: Broken Bow
by Davner
Summary: While Keiichi and Belldandy prepare for their wedding, Urd must overcome here own emotional baggage while Skuld contends with a new teacher sent from Heaven. Takes place after Vows. Now, the conclusion...
1. Lost Light

Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess is not mine. Fraggle Rock belongs to Jim Henson.

Foreword: When I first wrote "Blessings," the idea was to write a cute one-shot fic with some humor. The reviews were good, and my friend and fellow author, WillZ, kept tossing ideas back and forth and that produced "Perspective." Then more prompted "Vows." The only thing keeping it from becoming a full fledged series was an overarching theme and plot. Then, one day while talking with Will, that plot presented itself.

If you haven't read the three fics above, I recommend you do before reading this as this story takes place right on their heels. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy it.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 1: Lost Light

"He's here,"

"Send him in," The Almighty replied to the intercom. He sat back in his chair and focused his eye on the door. The sight of the god who walked through it nearly broke his heart.

He was young, too damn young to walk with a cane. It was obvious he didn't bother to take care of himself, stubble ran rampant over his chin and neck, and the brown cape was weather-worn and in obvious need of cleaning. His brown hair was still short, but had much more bulk than the last time he had seen him.

The Almighty forced pity out of his mind. He knew it would be unwelcome.

"Gwydion," he said in greeting. "Thank you for coming."

He watched the god struggle to kneel, and The Almighty stopped him.

"I told you that wasn't necessary."

"My Lord," the god said tiredly. The creator of all things could smell why on the god's breath.

"Heard you started the day pretty early," he told him.

"It's not like I have duty later," Gwydion told him with just the barest hint of disdain.

"You are a god in Heaven's service," The Almighty reminded him sternly. "You are always on duty."

The god leaned painfully on his cane and grimaced, not in anger, but pain. "Yes, My Lord. How may I be of service?"

"Funny you should ask that," God told him as he stood up. "I have a job for you."

"You're joking," Gwydion told him with a laugh.

"Not in the slightest," God said with a touch of darkness.

"And what great mission waits for Gwydion?" the broken god asked.

The Almighty paused before answering. "My youngest, Skuld, has come to the age where she needs to start learning magic. She needs an instructor, and I want that instructor to be you."

"Me?" the god asked, puzzled. "There are better men than me," he whispered.

"Very few," The Almighty admitted quietly. "Her sister, Verthandi, has been teaching her up until now, but there are constraints on her schedule and quite frankly..."

"I've heard of Verthandi," the god told him. "She's one of the best..."

"In her area of expertise," God told him. "I need Skuld proficient in yours."

"Why?"

"I don't make it a habit of explaining myself," God told him. "This is a mission I want you to take. Now you can either gather yourself back into some semblance of the god I knew and get it done, or you can grab your bottle and get your ass out of my Heaven. Make your choice."

Gwydion sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I won't have to go to Earth, will I?"

"Now that you mention it..."

888

"Hey, look what I found in her room!" the little green creature cried, holding aloft a vial with a green powder in it.

"What do you suppose it does?" the other creature, this one red, asked.

"Who knows?" the green one shrugged, opening the stopper.

Before he could swallow the contents, a grey creature rushed into the garden. "Urd's coming! Everyone run!"

The group of some ten creatures started panicking and running in different directions as the goddess of love, wielding Skuld's mallet, darted into the garden and started swinging indiscriminately at the creatures.

"You better run!" she shouted at the tiny things as they retreated. "Damn hippies!"

With a snort, Urd went back inside and joined the others at the breakfast table, placing Skuld's mallet near the door and retaking her seat. The others watched her in quiet confusion. Urd just started eating her miso soup again.

"What do you have against them anyway?" Skuld finally asked.

Urd's eyebrow twitched. "Damn Fraggles," she muttered. "Constantly stealing stuff from my potions cupboard..."

Skuld saw the absolute wrath in her sister's eyes and let it drop, but Belldandy must have missed it.

"Neesan, why don't you just share with the Fraggles?" she asked.

"Why don't you just sleep with Keiichi?" Urd shot back. Keiichi spurted soup all over the table in response.

Belldandy turned deep crimson, too shocked to say anything as she regarded her sister's enraged expression.

"Um... Wow," Skuld interjected.

Urd stood up and started for the door, taking one last shot as she walked out. "Because it's your own damn business, that's why!"

"What was that?" Keiichi asked as the door slammed.

Skuld stared at the door and shrugged. "She's been acting weird since that thing with Corus. What do you think Oneesama?"

Belldandy didn't say anything, she was still beet red, staring off into nothing.

"Belldandy has gone bye-bye, Keiichi," Skuld sighed. "What do you have left?"

888

"I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it," Keiichi said as he adjusted his goggles and waited for Belldandy to adjust her helmet. "Like Skuld said, she's been off for awhile."

At first Belldandy didn't say anything. Mentally shrugging, Keiichi started the bike and started down the street toward Nekomi Tech. About thirty seconds passed before Belldandy spoke.

"Keiichi, do you want me to sleep with you?"

Tires screeched as the student nearly lost control of the bike. Finally bringing it to a stop, he turned to his fiancee. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"Married couples sleep together, don't they?" she asked, looking down at her lap. "Is that something you would like to do?"

The temperature inside Keiichi's helmet rose about thirty degrees. "Y...y...yeah," he finally squeaked.

Belldandy smiled and clapped her hands together. "Good! Tonight then!" she declared, facing forward and waiting for the bike to move as if they had just decided on what they were having for dinner that night.

Keiichi just stared for several moments until the car behind them beeped its horn, prompting him to move. The bike started forward again.

His heart thudded in his chest, and he had to force himself to calm down.

_Just settle down,_ he told himself. _After all, she's not freaking out about it, and neither should I. We're engaged. Most engaged couples... you know..._

He glanced at her and smiled. It was amazing how much things had changed since that first night in his dorm room. The student chuckled to himself. There was a time, after all, when he actually thought even thinking of the idea would cause him to be struck by lightning...

The bolt of lightning hit the front of the bike, blinding Keiichi for a moment, but instincts honed by years of racing bikes kicked in and he hit the brakes. Belldandy screamed from the side-car as he turned the bike, bringing it to a stop.

A moment after the wheels stopped moving, he hopped off and got on his knees. "I'M SORRY!" he screamed at the sky.

"Keiichi san! Are you okay?!"

He blinked spots out of his eyes. "Yeah. You?"

"Hai! But..."

Still blinking, he went to check on the bike. For a moment, he thought the lightning had affected his vision more than he thought, but after a minute he was sure. There were glowing letters of some kind burned into the front fender.

"Belldandy, come take a look at this," he asked. The goddess joined him at the front of the bike and gasped.

"It's a message from The Almighty!" she said.

"I never would have guessed," Keiichi muttered. "He knows we have an email address, right?"

Belldandy's eyes moved over the letters. She shook her head in disbelief.

"What is it?" Keiichi asked, concerned.

"According to this," she said slowly. "Well... let me just read it to you. 'Belldandy, due to understandable constraints on your schedule while preparing for your approaching nuptials, I've decided the task of educating your younger sister should be appointed to another. Please prepare her for his arrival, which will be later today. The Almighty.'"

Keiichi felt a wave of relief. So he wasn't being attacked. It was purely innocent. Even so, the look on Belldandy's face was not a happy one. "Belldandy?" he asked. "That's good, isn't it?"

She looked down sadly. "I... I suppose it means I..." She gathered her voice and just said it. "It means I can't be trusted to properly educate Skuld."

Keiichi wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sure that's not what it means," he said. "I mean, if there was anyone who COULD do all the stuff you do, and prepare for a wedding AND teach Skuld to use magic, it would be you. Maybe Kami sama just thinks it shouldn't HAVE to be you."

She rested her head on her shoulder. "Thank you, Keiichi san," she whispered. "You always know how to make me feel better."

The close contact only made him think of their earlier conversation, and the boy's heart began to beat faster. He cleared his throat and stepped away. "Well, we should probably get going," he said.

888

"WHAT?!"

Skuld stood in the center of the room somewhere between shocked and livid. Belldandy had given her the news a moment before, putting the best possible spin on it.

"But I don't want a different teacher!" she cried. "I want you, Oneesama!" Tears flowed down the young goddess' face.

Belldandy's own composure was ready to break as well. "Skuld, I'm sure it will be fine. The Almighty chose a teacher for you himself."

The younger goddess wasn't buying it. She turned to Keiichi. "Keiichi," she growled. "I've been trying really hard to not say this lately, but..." She pointed at him. "I BLAME YOU!"

Keiichi scratched the back of his head. "Um... Sorry?"

Growling, Skuld stormed out of the room toward her lab.

"That could have gone... better," Urd remarked. "So who did The Almighty saddle her with?"

"His note didn't say," Belldandy said. "I heard Eostre is available. Maybe it's her?"

"Didn't the note say, 'he?'" Keiichi reminded her.

The goddess put her finger to her lips. "Hmmm. Zao Jun just graduated a student."

"What's he going to teach her, baking?" Urd chuckled. "Skuld isn't the domestic type."

"Peko?"

"Oh, yeah, that's what Skuld needs to learn. Booze, sex and corn..."

Belldandy sighed. "Then I really don't know."

"Why don't you call The Almighty and ask?"

They turned to the TV to find the face of God looking back at them. The Almighty was sitting at his desk, adjusting a web cam that must have been sitting on his Imac.

"Kami sama!" Belldandy greeted with a wide smile.

"It's good to see you, Verthandi, Keiichi." He nodded in Urd's direction. "Urd."

"Kami sama," she returned just as soberly.

"I trust you got my message," he said, ignoring her and turning to Belldandy.

"Hai," she replied. She smiled cautiously as she asked. "But why didn't you just use the phone?"

He turned and gave Keiichi a knowing smile. "Just making sure you weren't... sleeping on the job."

The boy gulped.

"So who is it?" Urd asked directly.

"No one you've ever heard of, if that's what you're wondering," he told her. "And I wasn't feeling cold enough to ask Peorth to do it, if that's what some of you are afraid of."

"Then who?" Belldandy asked.

"His name is Gwydion. He has my full confidence."

That was all.

Urd waited for more. "That's it? How many other gods has he taught?"

The Almighty turned a critical eye toward her. "I wasn't aware the god I'VE chosen to educate my youngest daughter had to have references," he bit out.

A soft tone sang out from The Almighty's computer. "Oh, if you'll excuse me. I have to appear in a grilled cheese sandwich in Detroit in five minutes. Skuld will be fine. Gwydion is a fine teacher. Belldandy, please do what you can to make him comfortable."

"Hai."

With a final nod, his image was replaced by static.

888

Skuld buried her face in her pillow and sulked. She felt cheated. She had given up trying to keep her sister and Keiichi apart, mostly because of the thought that they would still have time together. Now it seemed that was being taken away from her.

Sitting up in her bed, she took a deep breath and sighed loudly, more as therapy than anything else.

She didn't want a new teacher. Belldandy was a first class goddess, one of the best in Heaven, and now Kami sama wanted to saddle her with some... some...

Her thought was interrupted by a knock at her door. "What?" she asked sulkily.

"Open the door," came a voice she had never heard before.

She blinked. "Who's there?" she asked.

"I don't have time for games," the voice called back. "Open the door."

Compelled by some unknown force, Skuld got up and opened her bedroom door. A scruffy-looking man stood there, leaning on a cane. Without waiting to be invited, he stepped inside, the tip of his cane clacking against the wood floor.

"You're Skuld?" he asked, looking at some of the smaller inventions that lined her walls.

"Yes, who are you?" she asked bitterly.

"My name is Gwydion," he answered gruffly. "I'm your new teacher." He finally turned to face her, his expression one of uncertain annoyance. "I guess you're not happy about it either."

It was all Skuld could do to keep from crying. It was bad enough to be pulled from Belldandy, but to be given to some strange god who apparently didn't even want to teach her...

"The Almighty has assigned me to whip you into shape," Gwydion told her frankly. "You're an adult, and I expect you to act like one. I'm the teacher, you're the student. I talk, you listen. I teach, you learn. Don't waste my time, and I promise I won't waste yours."

Skuld only heard about half that. She was a little shocked by what he had called her. No god or goddess had ever told her she was an adult and really meant it, yet the man's words were filled with enough threat that suddenly the recognition she had wanted seemed strange to her.

"Understand?" he asked.

She nodded, gritting her teeth and accepting her fate.

"Good," he said gruffly. "Now... I need to sit down." He leaned against the wall and shut his eyes for several moments.

"Are you okay... um... Sensei?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Though I suppose I should speak to your sister and whoever it is that actually owns this place."

"You mean you haven't talked to them yet?"

He smiled tightly. "Unfortunately, there's only one book of poetry in this house, and it's in the back."

"Oh, well, they're over here."

888

Belldandy was just about to announce dinner when Skuld and Gwydion entered the kitchen. She took the new development in stride, bowing as Keiichi and Urd entered.

Gwydion nodded in return. "Lady Belldandy," he said in greeting. "It's an honor. I've heard impressive things about you." He managed a tight smile. "I even read some of your books. They're quite good."

"Thank you, Gwydion san!" the goddess said, brightening. She gestured to Keiichi. "This is my fiancee, Keiichi."

"I've heard of you too," Gwydion told him. "So you're the mortal who went and bagged himself a goddess! Are you telling everyone, or are you trying to keep it a secret?"

Keiichi blushed. "Well, we're not advertising it," he said.

Urd stepped forward. "I'm Skuld's oldest sis..."

"I know who you are," Gwydion growled. The menace in the words brought them all up short. Urd stepped back, unsure of what to make of it. The god looked embarrassed and turned back to Belldandy. "I hate to impose on your hospitality, but..."

"We have a room set up for you," the goddess replied with a smile. "And we're just about to have dinner. Skuld, why don't you show Gwydion sensei to his room so he can get settled before dinner?"

The look on Skuld's face said she didn't like the idea one bit, but she started down the hall anyway. "This way, Sensei."

Keiichi looked to Urd and found her expression troubled. He had been meaning to talk to her anyway. This was as good a time as any.

"Urd, can I talk to you outside?"

The oldest goddess nodded quietly, not even looking at him, and followed him outside. Once the two were alone on the porch, he turned to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh?" Urd asked as if coming out of a trance. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Keiichi chewed the inside of his cheek. "Look, Urd," he said quietly. "I know there's been something bothering you, and I know for whatever reason you don't want to talk to Belldandy about it. I just wanted you to know, that if you need someone to listen... I mean... we're practically family now, right?"

The sentiment forced the goddess to smile. "You're sweet, Keiichi, do you know that?"

The boy scratched the back of his head. "Well, I try..."

Her smile lost some of its luster. "I'm just going through something right now. I'll be okay. But thank you for caring."

"Well, okay," he said. "Oh, Urd, can I ask a question?"

At her nod, he continued.

"What did Gwydion mean by Belldandy's books?"

Urd smiled again. "You really don't know as much about my sister as you think you do, huh?"

"Eh?"

She fold her arms over her chest. "Belldandy is, among other things, a very prolific writer."

"Really?" The young man was surprised. No one had ever mentioned it before.

She nodded as she walked past him. "Next time I'm in Heaven, I'll bring back some of them."

"Um... Thanks," he said.

He turned and watched her walk back into the house, wishing he could have asked more questions and wondering if Urd really would be all right.

888

Urd shut her bedroom door and took a breath before grabbing at her left ring finger and pulling as hard as she could. Growling furiously and stamping her feet didn't seem to help either.

Finally, she collapsed on her futon, snarling and staring at her hand. How the hell was she supposed to explain this to anybody?

The wedding ring Corus gave her stared back at her.

She had tried everything she could think of. Magic, potions, even brute force. Nothing could even make the damn thing budge.

Worse was how it made her feel. She wanted no part of that demon, and with the ring somehow bonded to her it just reminded her day after day that she had actually looked him in the eye and uttered wedding v...

_Stop it!_ she thought. _You're only making it worse._

Thankfully, no one had noticed yet. She didn't want to tell Belldandy, and she didn't even know why. Keiichi, she knew, would help if he could, but if she couldn't remove it what hope would he have, and Skuld would only laugh at her.

She sighed and laid back in bed.

_I'm his,_ she thought. _He won in the end. Till death do us part..._

888

"Was everything to your liking?" Belldandy asked as she cleared the table.

Gwydion nodded. "Thank you, it was delicious." As the goddess went to the kitchen, Gwydion turned to Skuld, who up to now hadn't said a word to him. "We start tomorrow," he said brusquely. "I need an idea of how much you already know. Be ready early."

The young goddess nodded dully.

"In the morning we'll see what you know, and after that we'll return to Heaven."

"What?!" Skuld cried, suddenly looking up at him in shocked dread. "I don't want to go back to Heaven! I want to stay with Oneesama!"

"First of all, young lady, you will do what I tell you to do," Gwydion told her calmly, but with an edge. "And second, it's only for a couple of days to make use of some of the facilities."

"A couple of days!?" Skuld cried again. "That's about a week down here!" She threw an accusatory look at Keiichi. "And anything can happen in a week."

Seeing the young woman's point, Urd smiled mischievously. "What a good idea! You know, I have some business upstairs too. Maybe I'll come along."

Skuld went white. Keiichi blinked as a sudden, alien thought occurred to him.

"So... Belldandy... and I... will have the house... to OURSELVES?"

"What a concept!" Urd cried, clapping her hands together in mock joy.

"I hate this," Skuld whispered with a shake of her head.

"Enough crying!" Gwydion growled. "Be ready to leave tomorrow at noon." He stood up. "In the meantime..."

"Gwydion san," Belldandy said from the kitchen. "If you like, there's a bath down the hall."

"Thank you," he said tiredly. "That sounds... wonderful."

888

It was never "wonderful," though. Not like it used to be, when a bath at the end of a long day felt more like heaven than Heaven itself. Now...

He disrobed and set his cane aside before carefully lowering himself into the water, biting his lip and swearing to himself that he wouldn't make a sound.

It didn't take long to break that promise as the hot water made contact with the wounds in his leg and back, and he cried out in pain. He forced his mouth shut and refused to let another sound escape.

He had hoped, once upon a time, that it would be easier, that the pain would ease or that at the very least he would get used to it, but the curse didn't work that way. The pain was his, always fresh, always foremost in his mind.

The pain and the grief, neither of which he would ever be able to let go.

Reaching for the wash cloth, he cried out again.

888

"Do you think we should check on him?" Skuld asked out in the hallway, listening to the painful cries from within.

"No," Urd told her quietly. "He's a big boy, and if he wanted help, he'd ask."

"You don't like him, huh?" Skuld asked.

"And you do?" Urd asked sarcastically. Skuld only shrugged in agreement. With a more serious tone, Urd answered her. "There's something very not right about him."

"Why? Because he doesn't like you?" Skuld asked. "If that's so, then there's lots of people who're 'very not right.'"

Urd gave her an acidic look. "Where's your computer?"

"In my room," Skuld told her.

"You still have that router that lets us link to Yggdrasil's network?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. "Why?"

Urd ignored her as she started for her sister's room.

888

It didn't take long for the computer to boot up. Urd waited as the screen said, "Applying security settings..." then "Pushing patches..." tapping the keyboard with her fingers.

Her eye drifted to her ring finger, Corus' ring sparkling at her in spite. She looked back up at the screen as the welcome page appeared.

She logged onto Heaven's intranet page and entered Gwydion's name in the search bar.

The first page listed was his bio page. With a triumphant smile, Urd clicked it.

It asked for a password.

_Okay, odd, but no problem,_ she thought. She entered her sys op password and waited for the bio to pop up.

UNABLE TO ACCEPT PASSWORD, the message said. TO ACCESS THIS FILE, PLEASE CONTACT 1CD ADMINISTRATOR.

Urd blinked in shock. Her password was supposed to access nearly 99 percent of Yggdrasil's files, yet a simple bio for a simple god was classified.

_1CD..._

The Combat Division? Why would Heaven's defense arm restrict access to his bio?

She leaned back in her chair and sighed.

Definitely very not right.

888

Keiichi yawned and stretched out on his futon, closing the thermodynamics text book he had been studying and carelessly tossing it toward his desk. He'd deal with it tomorrow. Lacing his fingers behind his head, he shut his eyes.

He heard footsteps outside his door. Opening his eyes, he saw a familiar silhouette.

"Keiichi san?" Belldandy called. "I'll be ready for bed in a few minutes, all right?"

The boy's eyes went wide. With Gwydion's arrival he had completely forgot about Belldandy's promise about tonight.

"Um... okay," he squeaked. He watched the silhouette walk off.

_Ready?_ he asked himself. _How ready?_ Images of Belldandy in something lacy drifted into his head.

He looked around his room. It was a complete mess. He scrambled out of his futon and started frantically tossing things into his closet before shutting the door and bracing a chair against it. He looked around the now clean room and sighed in relief.

_Condoms, Morisato!_ his brain screamed. _Remember what Urd said!? Quints?! You want quints!?_

The boy tore through his desk drawers like a DEA agent with a search warrant. Once he found the box Urd had given him, he found that he needed to clean again. He began the task with a desperate urgency as he heard footsteps approach his door again.

Tearing one of the condoms from the box, he jumped under the covers and tried to look nonchalant.

There was a gentle knock, and Belldandy's voice. "Keiichi san? May I come in?"

"Yes," he whispered, then shaking himself and clearing his throat, he tried to sound suave. "Come in," he said.

The sight that met his eyes flabbergasted him. Then again, knowing Belldandy, he probably should have expected it.

The goddess was wearing a set of pink pajamas with little fluffy system bug slippers, carrying a pillow and a teddy bear.

She smiled gently and sat next to him on the futon. "I brought a pillow," she announced.

"Yes, I see that," he muttered with more than a little disappointment.

She frowned. "Is something wrong?"

He shook himself out of it. It wasn't her fault his hentai expectations were too high. He smiled. "Nope," he told her.

Her smile returned in force, and she gave him a kiss. "Good night, Keiichi san."

888

Belldandy should have been at peace, but she wasn't. Snuggled up to her fiancee while he snored peacefully, the goddess found herself rather troubled.

She thought it would be easy, that she would actually sleep better in Keiichi's arms, but she wasn't.

Despite what Keiichi and others might believe, Belldandy was not immune to earthly desires. She had her needs and wants too, but she had always been taught that it wasn't proper to express them to anyone but her husband.

And much as she would like to think otherwise, Keiichi was not yet her husband.

Once he was, however...

Her pulse quickened at the thought, and her hands instinctively tightened on his arm. The whole idea excited her, but also scared her a little. What if he wasn't attracted to her in that way? Urd was always the sexy, exotic sister. Belldandy had always considered herself rather plain, not as tall or "well endowed" as her older sister.

She looked over at Keiichi. When they first met, he had insisted he wasn't attractive, yet she had always found herself admiring his features. Perhaps that just proved an old adage her mother had told her.

"_Men love the women they're attracted to, while women are attracted to the men they love."_

No, surely he was attracted to her.

Wasn't he?

Perhaps she should...

No, that would be wrong, she told herself. _That_ was for marriage. No matter what others might say or think.

Then again, the teachers she had in her sex education class in Heaven had all but assumed they were already intimate.

No, she thought again. Better to save it for the wedding night. After the ceremony, when they were alone...

Her pulse quickened again as she thought about it. Of course, being the proper wife, she would wait for him to make the first move, allow him to lead. And then...

"_Men expect their wives to be a gentle caretaker by day and an aggressive tigress by night,"_ her mother had told her when they had "the talk," when the elder goddess had given Belldandy her wedding dress.

A tigress? She looked at Keiichi again. She had never felt or thought of herself like that before. What did that even mean?

She sat up, looking down at her fiancee. Suddenly inspired, she threw a leg over him and straddled the sleeping man. Keiichi didn't stir. The goddess stared down at her fiancee, his cute face and those bushy eyebrows he was always so quick to disparage but she found oddly attractive.

The goddess growled low in her throat.

NOW she felt like a tigress. Her pulse roared in her ears. It would be so easy to just lean down and kiss him, waking him to the feeling of his goddess on him. Now matter how plain she was, she doubted very much he would be able to resist...

_No! Bad goddess! Bad!_ she chastised herself. She saw him stir below her and quickly rolled off of him, returning to her previous position, holding his arm and snuggling against him.

It would simply have to wait...

888

Gwydion was not pleased.

He had hoped, even dared to expect, that Skuld would at least know some of the rudimentary elements of magic. Unfortunately, what she did know she had learned reluctantly and he finally decided the best thing to do would be start from scratch.

And so he had sent the angry young woman into the house to get her things while he went to gather up a few of his own belongings.

Opening a drawer in his room, he pocketed a billfold and came up short as his other hand touched glass. The bottle resting at the bottom of the drawer was half empty, the amber liquid inside sloshing back and forth teasingly.

He took a breath and bit his lip before mustering the strength to close the drawer.

888

"They left already?" Urd asked, obviously miffed.

Keiichi nodded. "Yeah. Gwydion looked ticked." He winced in sympathy. "I don't think Skuld is going to have a very good day."

Belldandy smiled. "I'm sure she'll learn a lot from Gwydion. Every god and goddess has a different way of teaching. Some are harsh, and some are gentle. Some have a tight rein and..."

"... Others advocate insurrection and genocide?" Urd asked snidely.

Belldandy's face wilted. It was obvious Urd was making a dig at Belldandy through Celestin.

"That's not fair, Urd," Keiichi told her, his voice nearly a growl, but not quite.

Urd nodded, her eyes closed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just..." She looked up at Belldandy's eyes and saw the hurt there. "I'm sorry," she said again. "Look, I'm going to head upstairs for a day or so. You... You two have fun, okay?"

"Neesan," Belldandy said quietly, her hand outstretched. "Is there something wrong? Please, just tell us. We want to help."

"Look, I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Urd said simply. "You kids have a good time. I'll be back soon."

Before they could stop her, Urd dived through the TV.

888

Keiichi watched her go and sighed, wrapping his arm around Belldandy. "She didn't mean it."

"I know," Belldandy told him softly. "Whatever is bothering her, she'll work out for herself. It's her way. I just hope she doesn't hurt herself in the process."

"Yeah," he said. "So... the house to ourselves." He looked around and rubbed his hands together eagerly. "We haven't had the house to ourselves in three years. What do you want to do?"

Belldandy thought for a moment. "I'm going to take a bath."

"Oh," he replied. "Okay. Well, while you do that, I'll... um... Maybe I'll catch up on some homework."

"Keiichi san," she replied quizzically. "If you do that, who's going to wash my back?" With an innocent smile, she started down the hall.

Stunned, it took Keiichi about eight seconds before he followed her.

888

It didn't take long for Urd to find where she was going. The headquarters for the 1st Combat Division was adjacent to Central Dogma. Though she had never been inside, it was easily recognizable, a shining silver tower with a wall surrounding it and an unguarded gate as the entry point. Four flags flew over the entrance, each representing the four regiments of avenging angels and valkyries that defended Heaven.

Walking through the gate and past a small courtyard, Urd found herself inside a museum. Weapons and armor hung behind glass cases along the walls. She was surprised to see Mjolnir hanging from the ceiling. Thor's hammer was twenty feet long with a head that weighed eight tonnes, according to the small plate on the wall.

She finally found a directory, but it was little help since it didn't list any network administrators. Finally, she decided to count on luck and just poked her head into an office.

A blonde goddess with short hair stood in the corner of a small office, her grey robes looking slightly rumpled. She was staring down at a PDA, tapping the screen with a light pen.

"Hello?" Urd asked, knocking on the door frame.

The goddess looked up for a moment. "What can I do for you?" she asked before looking down again.

"Yeah, I'm looking for the division network administrator," Urd told her.

"You found her," the other goddess admitted, taking a seat behind her desk. "What can I do for you?"

The goddess smiled, glad to know her luck was still good in some ways. "I need access to a file on the intranet, but it says I need your password to get to it, a bio."

The valkyrie started tapping on her keyboard. Lights on the monitor began to align, granting her access. As she typed, Urd noticed a badge on her right shoulder, a gold gate on a black surface with the words, "This far," written across the top and "No farther," across the bottom.

"Whose bio?" she asked.

"A god named Gwydion," Urd told her.

The typing stopped.

The other goddess turned to her. "I'm sorry, may I ask what you need it for?"

Urd was taken aback. "He's my sister's teacher," she said, a little irate at seemingly running into another bureaucratic road block. "And I have some concerns, so I'd like to see his biography and his record if that's all right with you." That last bit came out a little more snarky than she really wanted.

The other goddess smiled tightly. "And what concerns would those be?" she asked, her voice as sweet as poisoned honey.

Too far in to back out gracefully, Urd crossed her arms over her chest. "He's abrasive, insensitive, and that smell on his breath isn't Sprite, if you get my meaning."

The valkyrie stood up and leaned toward Urd, her palms flat on her desk. She looked the love goddess in the eyes, her own alight with anger. "That god saved my life," she hissed. "And the lives of a couple dozen others in this building." She looked Urd up and down. "And you're Urd, aren't you?"

The Norn blinked in surprise.

Seeing her look, the war goddess nodded. "I recognize the _family_ resemblance," she noted.

Urd opened her mouth to speak, but the other goddess beat her to it.

"You should go," she said simply and sat down again.

888

As Urd walked through the museum, she kicked herself for not being more diplomatic. Now she had more questions and still no answers.

"Urd?"

Turning, she saw a familiar hulk in a red cape coming toward her. She smiled in genuine relief. "Aramis," she breathed. "You're the first friendly face I've seen in awhile."

Puzzled, the seven foot centurion looked down at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get lunch."

888

"This is a magigraphic chamber," Gwydion told her as he limped into the dark room. "This is where we'll start."

Skuld entered the pitch black room tentatively. "What does it do?" she asked nervously.

"Your first problem," Gwydion continued, ignoring her question. "Is that part of you believes you can't use magic, that you don't have it in you."

"No I don't!" Skuld retorted angrily.

"You're a science geek!" Gwydion told her. "There's no shame in it. You've trained your brain to believe science created magic instead of the other way around. This chamber is going to show you your power by interacting with it at a quantum level and bringing your power into the visible spectrum."

Phrased scientifically, Skuld found it easier to follow. "Okay. So what do I do?"

"Just give it a minute."

Behind Skuld, the door slid shut, encasing them in darkness. A moment later, she noticed a soft, blue glow coming from somewhere. It took her a minute to realize it was coming from her. Looking down at her arms, she saw blue light flickering over her body as if it were set aflame.

She smiled at the sight. "Is this it?" she asked.

"That's it," he told her. She looked up and saw Gwydion, also encased in light, but the blue light around him clung tightly to his body without flickering. Except for several patches on his left torso and right leg which for some reason were red.

"So, why does mine look like this?" she asked.

"It's your control," he told her. "You don't have any yet. When you have the discipline, you'll be able to keep it closer, call it on demand."

She snapped her fingers and saw a small dart of the blue light race across the room and bounce off a wall. "So how do I use it?"

"That comes with studying, practice and confidence," Gwydion told her. "You have to know why magic works in order to use it. It's not all saying pretty words and granting wishes. Magic is the manipulation of the universe around you, essentially convincing it to do what you want based on your authority as a goddess. Gravity doesn't reverse itself for just anyone."

"Okay," she said, smiling more brightly as she got into it. "So what now?"

888

"Gwydion?" Aramis asked, poking at his food with a fork. "What do you need to know?"

Finally, someone willing to talk. Urd was convinced that there was something wrong with her sister's new teacher, something that even The Almighty was trying to hide from them.

"What have you got?" Urd asked eagerly.

Aramis shrugged. "He's a good guy."

He took a few bites from his lunch, acting as if that were the end of the conversation. Urd glared at him. She and Aramis were childhood friends, but she swore that wouldn't stop her from taking a swing at him if she didn't get the answers she wanted.

"And?" she asked dangerously.

The look on his face told her what she already knew. Not only was there something wrong with Gwydion, it was something no one in the Combat Division wanted to talk about.

"We don't discuss it," he told her quietly.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Look," he said, sitting back in his chair. "The Division is different from the rest of Heaven. It has its own rules, unofficial rules, but rules nonetheless. And one of those is that you don't air the Divisions' dirty laundry to outsiders."

"Aramis, all I know is that this guy is teaching my little sister and when I asked that goddess about him, she suddenly got belligerent!"

He eyed her for a moment. "Blonde, grey robes, about your height?"

"Yeah," she replied, puzzled again.

"That was Yazlyn," he sighed. "And you couldn't have picked a worse person to go to for answers."

"Why?" she asked, aware she was being lured off track by this new mystery, but piqued nonetheless.

"She and Gwydion came up together," he told her. "And she hates demons. Moreso than normal, I mean. You have to have more than a little anger in you to do this job, but she absolutely hates demons and anything to do with them."

"But I'm not a..." Urd came up short as she remembered her conversation with the valkyrie.

"_I recognize the family resemblance_._" _

"She knows about me?" she asked, shocked to whispers.

He nodded.

She shook her head and grimaced, determined to get back on topic. If some strange goddess wanted to be a bigot, that was her business.

"What about Gwydion?" she demanded again. Aramis gave her a look as if he was about to dodge her again, so she pressed. "She's teaching my SISTER, Aramis."

He sighed and thought for several moments, taking a drink from his water glass before speaking again. "He lost a student," he told her quietly. "A few years ago. Her name was Gaeriel. We went to school together." His eyes and voice became wistful as she spoke. "She was the most beautiful goddess I'd ever seen. And brilliant too. Everyone knew she was destined for great things. She could have done anything she wanted."

"So what happened?"

"She and Gwydion... were close," he said dodgily. "Now, I don't want to give you the wrong idea. I don't think there was anything inappropriate about their relationship, but it was obvious he saw her as more than his student and she saw him as more than her teacher. It was to the extent that when the time came for her to choose a role, she followed him into the Division."

She waited for him to go on. "Well, then what?"

His voice saddened the more he spoke. "There was a mission... in the Roundtable." He paused and looked up at her. "Do you know what that is?"

"Yeah," she replied. "It's some sort of buffer area between Heaven and the demon realm."

"The normal rules don't apply there," he explained. "There are strict rules in the other realms about when and under what circumstances you can kill a god or a demon. In the Roundtable they just don't apply. We don't know why." He paused again and resumed his story. "Anyway, there was supposed to be some kind of gathering of demons there. Lind thought it might be a probe, a reconnaissance in force, we call it. She sent forty Gatekeepers to engage them and drive them out of the Roundtable." He took another drink and looked her in the eye. "There were FOUR survivors."

That last statement floored Urd. Pound for pound, one valkyrie or avenging angel was worth about five demons in a one-to-one fight. A force that could take out thirty-six of them must have been immense.

"How?" Urd asked, her disbelief written across her face.

Aramis looked uncomfortable, as if he didn't really want to talk about the next part. "Hild was there," he said quietly. Urd felt her heart plunge into her stomach. "No one knew until it was too late. From what I heard, they lost half their force in the first sixty seconds, including their captain. Gwydion took command and ordered a retreat. They spent the next seven hours dragging their wounded, getting sniped at until they could find a line out."

He took another drink.

"Gwydion... got caught," he whispered. His face turned angry. "In _honor _of his capture, she _blessed_ him with a special gift," he bit out. "After she was done crushing his body over the course of three days, she cursed him."

Urd stared at him, listening to Aramis lay out the crimes of her mother in horrified fascination.

"She cursed Gwydion so that the injuries he sustained would never fully heal, and the pain he felt when he first got them will never ebb." He paused and took a drink of water. "The Double A's found him floating in the Roundtable a few days later."

Urd took a moment to digest this. "And Gaeriel?" she asked quietly.

"She didn't make it," he whispered. "She was three days out of training. She wasn't ready. They say Gwydion was just too overconfident, put her in his squad anyway. And she paid the price for it. A lot of guys who knew Gaeriel think maybe he got what he deserved."

Urd sat back in her chair, almost physically exhausted just from hearing the story.

"Since then, Gwydion's never been able to bring himself to teach anyone," Aramis said. "He fell into a bottle and never climbed out. It doesn't dull the pain from his curse, but I guess it's better than nothing."

Urd leaned back and digested this. Finally, after several moments, she stood up. "Thanks, Aramis," she said, turning to go.

"Oh, by the way," he said. "Congratulations."

"Huh?"

He pointed at her hand, and Urd rushed to cover the ring. "I'm jealous," he joked. "You and Troubador finally get back together or did you find a mortal like your sister?"

"You're an ass, Aramis!" she spat before storming out.

"What did I do?" the puzzled centurion asked himself.

888

"The library?!"

"What did you expect?" Gwydion asked her as he led his young pupil deeper into the cavernous library of Heaven. "That I would take you to some kind of magical shopping district to pick up a wand, a broom and some damn bird and then you'd be all set for magic?" He snorted. "Real magic is a disciplined field. The majority of your time learning about magic will be done here, in the library, reading. You have to learn WHY magic works the way it does..."

He broke off as a blonde woman noticed him and approached. The first hint of a smile spread over his face. "Yazlyn," he greeted her.

The blonde's expression was the exact opposite of the one she had offered Urd not long ago. Skuld, used to the beauty of Belldandy and Urd, found the goddess almost plain, but a fire in the woman's eyes prevented her from being forgettable.

"Gwydion, it's good to see you," she remarked. She looked down at Skuld. "Is this your new student?"

"Heard about that, did you?" he asked.

"Second-hand," she noted dryly. She bowed to Skuld and smiled. "How do you do? My name is Yazlyn. I knew this grumpy old bulldog back when he was just an irritable puppy."

"And still the unprofessional smart-ass that keeps silver off your shoulders, I see," Gwydion growled, only half meaning it. He turned his comments back to Skuld. "Yazlyn here was in my unit in Division."

"Which sucks now that you're gone, by the way," she noted with a roll of her eyes. "It's just not the same."

"You were in the Combat Division?" Skuld asked in awe.

"I did some time there," he admitted almost reluctantly. "But it was a long time ago."

"Don't let him fool you," Yazlyn told her. "If you bug him enough, he'll even tell you a moderately interesting story."

"I'll have her bug you for less interesting ones," he shot back, wincing.

"How long have you been on your feet today?" Yazlyn asked, all business.

"Most of the day," he said, waving her concern aside.

"Sit down," she ordered. "I'll take your pupil to get her books."

"Like you know wha..."

"'Elements of Metamagical Communication' by Eostre, 'Fire: Sources and Conjuring' by Huitzilopochtli, 'Mercy in the Next Age,' by Belldandy and 'The Rain' by Ambisagrus, if I remember correctly."

Gwydion grumbled. "You forgot Gao Yao's 'Gods and Justice,'"

"No, I didn't. You just didn't used to use his work."

The god didn't argue, he collapsed into a nearby padded chair and closed his eyes. "Whatever you say, Yazlyn."

"Sensei, are you all right?" Skuld asked, genuinely concerned.

"Come on," Yazlyn prompted, starting for the book shelves. "He'll be all right."

Skuld followed, throwing another worried look at the god wincing in the chair. "Is he all right?" she asked.

"He's fine," Yazlyn said quickly, not facing Skuld as she said it. "Now, let's see..." She examined the bookshelves, which seemed to go on forever and were at least eighty feet high. A few gods and goddesses floated at different heights, searching for the right books.

The valkyrie handed her books as she found them; most were at eye level or lower, coincidentally. Skuld looked at the cover of the latest and blinked.

"Oneesama wrote this?"

"Hmm?" Yazlyn asked. She saw the cover. "So Belldandy's your sister, huh?" she asked. "Yeah. It's okay. Kind of outside my area, but it's good stuff to know. That's the first volume. We need to find the second."

"It's so much," Skuld said quietly.

The other goddess turned to her, a look of sympathetic understanding peeking through the tough facade. "Hey," she said. "It's nothing. You'll eat through this stuff before you can blink." She turned to pull another tome off the shelf. "And you have a great teacher too. If you want to go to Division, he's the one to learn from. He taught Lind too, years ago."

"Division?" Skuld asked. "What do you mean?"

Yazlyn looked at her again. "Well, you're going to Combat, right?"

"No!" Skuld replied, bordering on horrified.

The older goddess blinked. "Oh. I'm sorry, I just assumed. That's what Gwydion specializes in."

Skuld blinked.

"Gwydion is a war mage."

888

Urd added another book to the basket and walked toward the nonfiction section. She had managed to get all the way to the television, ready to leave Heaven, when she remembered her promise to Keiichi to pick up some of Belldandy's books. She had already picked up some of her fictional work, some she was sure would give Keiichi some very interesting things to think on, but she wanted to get a copy of 'Mercy in the Next Age.' It was considered her sister's best and most insightful work, and Urd wanted to subtly let Keiichi know that Belldandy knew about more than pies and housework.

She found the second volume and reached up to grab it when her fingers met those of another. Following those fingers to their source, she grimaced as she saw Yazlyn standing there, a look of equal disgust on her face.

"Yazlyn, right?" Urd asked. "I didn't get a chance to get your name last time before you threw me out of your office in a fit of bitchiness."

The valkyrie smiled sweetly. "Urd, you must be in the wrong section. All the books with the pretty pictures in them are in fiction."

Skuld watched the two in uncomfortable awe. "Um... You two... know each other?" she asked.

Neither goddess removed their hand from the book. "Do you mind?" Urd asked.

"Actually, yeah," Yazlyn told her. "Skuld needs this book."

"Well, it's going to the same house, so you can let go now."

"I think it would be better to let her have it," the valkyrie argued.

"I think..."

"I think you're both acting like children!"

They both turned as Gwydion reached up and wrenched the book from them both, depositing it in Skuld's basket and turning toward the girl. "Go check those out," he ordered. Skuld rushed to the front desk. Once she was out of earshot, he turned back to the other two goddesses.

"That girl is at an age and a point in her education where strong role models are important," he told them. "I was hoping that both of you could be that. One thing I do NOT want her picking up is that goddesses with differences quarrel like school children."

Yazlyn cleared her throat. "Well... Now that I feel stupid, I think I should go." She gave a short bow to Gwydion. "Old man," she said in goodbye.

"Try getting promoted for a change," he grunted back as she walked off. "And you," he said, turning to Urd. "There's something I want to tell you."

Urd braced herself and prepared to counterattack. She had taken all she was going to take from one bigot today, she wasn't about to let Gwydion slide.

The attack, however, never came. Instead, Gwydion, a sheepish look on his face, seemed to struggle to meet her gaze. "I... wanted to apologize to you... for how I behaved today. When I snapped at you, I mean."

Urd blinked in surprise, but said nothing.

"You... look a lot like someone I'm not fond of," he explained quietly. "You didn't deserve that, and I'm sorry."

"Don't mention it," she said quietly, not quite sure what else to say.

"Well, I'll see you back at the temple, then," he said, turning and limping off.

Urd took a breath. Everything she had learned today seemed to conflict with the things she was witnessing for herself. All she knew was that things were the way they were, and she wasn't in any position to change it.

Picking up her basket, she started for the desk.

888

The lights were out when Urd climbed out of the Morisato TV set, just past midnight according to the clock on the wall. She stopped suddenly and made more of an effort to silence her movements when she saw Keiichi and Belldandy on the futon nearby, asleep in each other's arms. A quick look at an empty VHS case told her the two had fallen asleep watching a movie together.

She regarded them for several moments, kneeling next to her sister and studying her face. Once again, for reasons she couldn't comprehend, she felt a flash of anger toward her more fortunate sister. Quickly standing, she turned off the TV and walked silently to her room.

Her eyes found light coming from under the door of the guest room, telling her that Skuld and Gwydion had already returned, though she found it odd that anyone would still be up at this hour.

Entering her room and dumping the bag of books she had brought with her on her bookshelf, she started to undress for bed, the results of her trip a mixed bag that left her thoroughly unsatisfied.

Flopping onto her futon, she took a sour breath and rolled onto her side. The goddess closed her eyes and hoped sleep would bring answers.

_Warm arms encircled her from behind as a warm and familiar presence spooned against her._ _Sighing, she trailed her finger up the man's arms, ending at calloused hands that somehow retained gentleness in spite of it. _

_She felt warm breath on the back of her ear and reveled in the closeness of it. Finding his hand, she squeezed it._

Don't ever leave,_ she thought._

"_Don't worry, I won't!" Corus whispered back._

She woke up screaming, and without thinking, pointed up and...

888

"You _accidentally_ blew a hole in the roof?" Skuld asked, looking up at the damage.

Above their heads, a charred hole six feet across let in the morning light. Keiichi scratched the back of his head and sighed. "I'll go get some tools."

"I'll help," Urd told him quietly, thoroughly miserable. She started after Keiichi.

Belldandy watched her sister in frank concern. "Neesan, why don't you let Keiichi handle this?" she offered. "Why don't you and I go into town for a bit?"

Urd stopped in her tracks, but refused to look back at her sister. "Leave me alone," she said quietly. She didn't see the hurt in Belldandy's face as she walked off.

"Oneesama," Skuld whispered.

"It's all right, Skuld," Belldandy whispered. "You have a lesson today, don't you?"

"Hai," the young goddess replied, starting out of the room herself.

888

The sound of hammering was too distant to really be a distraction, yet Skuld's concern about what prompted that hammering caused her thoughts to wander even as Gwydion was talking. It finally took a poke to her forehead with the man's cane to get her to snap back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Sensei?" she asked foolishly.

He growled. "Am I wasting my morning, Skuld?" he asked.

"No, Sensei," she replied sheepishly.

"Good, as I was saying," he continued. He gestured to a rather large boulder that sat in the rock garden at the east side of the temple. "Now that you know you have magic, it's time to use it. And we will start with reversing gravo-metric fields. Levitation," he told her.

Skuld looked at the boulder with trepidation. She had failed enough times with a small stone to realize this was going to be futile effort.

"Sensei," she began nervously. "Shouldn't I try with something smaller?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Well... because it's a boulder?" she replied. "Probably weighs about a half ton?"

"And?"

"Won't that make it harder to lift?"

"If you were our young mortal friend and reduced to dragging the boulder into the air against its will, then yes," he replied. "But you don't have that problem. Remember, a goddess' power comes from her authority over the universe. Just tell the boulder to float."

Skuld was unconvinced. "Just tell it?" she repeated. She turned to the rock and thrust her arms into the air. "Up boulder! Up!"

She received a poke from his cane for insolence.

"Remember the blue light?" he asked, kneeling with great difficulty to look at her eye to eye. At her nod, he continued. "Project it. Touch the boulder with it. Use that to tell the rock what you want it to do. Your magic isn't a force, it's a conduit of your will."

He stepped back, and Skuld took a breath, turning to the boulder. Extending her hand, she projected her thoughts toward the rock, trying to see the blue flame in her mind's eye. As she did, she wondered if this was really how it was supposed to be. Just think at something and it ans-

"_Yes?" _she heard in her mind. She gasped inwardly, nearly losing her concentration, but held on.

"_My name is Skuld,"_ she projected.

"_And?"_ she heard in her mind.

"_And... well... could you float in the air, please?"_

"_And I'm going to do that because...?"_

Skuld wasn't sure what to say.

"_I was napping, you know,"_ the boulder pointed out in irritation.

She gathered herself, remembering what Gwydion had said about her authority as a goddess. Closing her eyes again, she asserted more of her will into the link.

"_My name is Skuld, Goddess Second Class, Limited License,"_ she told it. _"And I wasn't asking you. I was telling you."_

She heard irate grumbling in her mind. _"Very well, holiness," _it told her. _"I meant no offense. You should have just said you were a goddess. Very well, then. How high?"_

"_Um... two meters will be good."_

Her eyes snapped open as the boulder in front of her rumbled to life and rose exactly two meters into the air and hung there.

"Oh... Oh my gosh," she whispered. "I did it."

"That you did," Gwydion whispered beside her.

"I did it? I did it! I DID IT!" she screamed. Her connection broken, the boulder fell to the ground with a crash. Skuld didn't care. "I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!"

Caught up in giddiness, she flung herself at Gwydion, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tightly. "I DID IT!" she squealed again.

She heard her teacher cry out in anguish, and suddenly she was on the ground, having been bodily thrown off the man. Looking up, she saw the man on one knee, panting heavily, his eyes shut painfully.

"Sensei?! Are you okay?!"

He reached up with his hand, telling her to stay back as he panted, waiting for the pain to subside enough for him to function again.

"You did..." he swallowed painfully. "You did well, Skuld," he told her. "Just... Now... Go practice that... Use smaller objects... Just..."

She nodded quickly, having no earthly idea what was going on or what she had done. Did she do this? Did she somehow use her powers to hurt him? Surely she hadn't squeezed him _that_ hard...

Taking a few tentative steps backward, she finally turned and started for the other side of the house.

888

Pain had a color.

It wasn't something that could be described as a mixture of different hues, but Gwydion knew it well as he saw it behind his eyes any time anything other than the most gentle of touches brushed the areas affected by his curse. It blinded him, paralyzed him, drove out his ability to think. So much an effect it had on his concentration that he wouldn't be able to summon Broken Bow now if his life depended on it.

If he was mortal, he'd be retching, crying or begging to die. Being a god in Heaven's service, he did what any other avenging angel would do. He endured.

_It's so hard to endure._

Finally, he found his cane and pushed himself to his feet. He let out a long breath and collected himself, wiping away tears before walking slowly back to the house.

888

The knife's blade glistened in the soft light given off by the lamp in her room. Urd regarded the slim blade for a moment, honestly trying to figure out if she really meant to do what she was considering.

It was razor sharp and slim enough to fit between her fingers easily enough. One quick slice and the ring would be gone. The problem was, so would her finger.

_Take a breath, Urd,_ she thought. _Can't you see how stupid this is?_

She put the knife down and buried her face in her hands. She couldn't keep doing this, and she didn't want to face Belldandy with it. With everything else, she just couldn't take the pity.

As a second class goddess, she couldn't remove it. She needed a first class.

Gathering her courage, she stood up and walked out of her room.

888

The door slid aside, and Urd wondered again if this was the right thing to do. It was late, after all. She assumed he'd be asleep, but he answered so quickly she knew he had been awake.

Gwydion's eyes carried dark rings around them. He looked hurt and exhausted.

"Urd?" he asked tiredly.

"I need your help," she said plainly, bracing herself for any kind of response she could imagine.

Gwydion regarded her for a moment, then nodded. "Come inside," he said, making way for her.

She stepped in and took a look around. It was obvious she had interrupted a bender. A half-full bottle of Johnny Walker sat next to an empty one on a small desk lit by a tiny lamp. Lying next to them was a small pile of gold coins, all different sizes and colorfully adorned.

The teacher rubbed his eyes and gestured to a chair. She took it gratefully, folding her hands in her lap, her right covering her left.

"You look like you need a drink," he noted dryly, pouring a shot and handing it to her.

She took it and quickly drained it, feeling the amber liquid burn all the way down her throat. He nodded at her and sat down at the desk, pouring himself a shot before getting down to business.

"What can I do for you?" he asked. For a man who must have been drinking for the last several hours, Urd found he was surprisingly lucid.

She held out her left hand.

Gwydion looked at the ring. "Nice," he told her, lifting his glass. "Congratulations."

"I want it gone," she whispered angrily.

He looked at the ring without touching it. "I assume you are somehow incapable of removing said bauble?"

She nodded. "It's cursed or something. I can't get it off no matter what spell or potion I try."

The teacher turned to one of his travel bags and removed a pair of thin gloves, not quite plastic. The material had the consistency of soap bubbles. Pulling them on, he gently took her hand and touched the ring, examining it closely.

"Hmm," he grunted. "Get this from a demon?" he asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she retorted irritably, feeling stupid a second later.

"I'll take that as a yes," he replied, not bothering to look up. "Hmm. Looks to me like a third level spiritbond. What do you think, Bow?"

Urd watched as an angel slowly emerged from Gwydion's back, but it was unlike any angel she had seen before. Its left wing was broken and bent back at an unnatural angle and three inflamed-looking scars covered a shut left eye. The right eye, a deep sea-green, looked down at the ring curiously before nodding at Gwydion. A moment later, the angel returned to its perch within the teacher's soul.

He nodded. "Excellent," he said. He looked up at her. "Does Belldandy brush her hair in the morning?"

"Um... Yeah," Urd replied, unsure about the sudden turn in the conversation.

"Good. Stay here," he told her. Rising, he walked out of the room, leaving her there alone.

Urd took a breath and fidgeted nervously, feeling like a woman waiting for a doctor in an exam room. Looking for something to occupy her thoughts, she stood up and poured herself another shot. Downing it, her eyes found the gold coins lying on the desk.

She let her fingers sift through the pile. Each coin was decorated differently, some stamped with different dates or symbols. All but one.

A simple gold coin about the size of a silver dollar sat at the top of the pile, completely unadorned but smooth as if handled often. She picked it up and found her eye drawn to the light reflecting off it.

"_I chose you, you know,"_ she heard a woman's voice enter her head. She blinked as a woman's face appeared behind her eyes. It took a moment, but the image cleared and Urd could see her clearly in her mind's eye. She was by far the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Long blonde hair flowed down the woman's back like a waterfall of gold while green eyes laughed merrily at her. For the first time in a _very _long time, Urd found herself self conscious.

"_Did I ever tell you that?" _the voice continued. _"Father let me choose any instructor I wanted. Well, you know how anal retentive I can be. I did my homework. Just like you, the other instructors were intelligent and powerful and kind... But there was something about you, one thing that separated you from the others..."_

The woman's face regarded her coyly. _"Can you guess?"_

After a few moments, the woman looked down at her feet. _"Well, I'm not going to tell you. I'll let you figure it out."_

And suddenly, she was gone. Urd blinked and dropped the coin back on the desk.

And not a moment too soon. A second later, Gwydion reentered the room, carrying Belldandy's hair brush. Urd quickly retook her seat, embarrassed at being caught rifling through his room. If Gwydion saw, he gave no sign.

"Give me your hand," he ordered as he sat down and pulled two hairs from the brush. He took her slender fingers in his own again as he started to explain, putting on his "teaching voice."

"There's a charm on this ring," he said. "And its one mission is to remain on Urd's hand forever. Very powerful charm, but like most demonic spells, it's all power and no finesse." He tied one of the hairs around her wrist and the other around the end of her middle finger. "Now, then," he said. Closing his eyes, he chanted in the Heavenly program language.

Her hand from one hair to the other shrank slightly and took on a more pale skin tone. It took a moment, but Urd realized what was happening. Her hand was turning into her sister's.

"And... there!" Gwydion announced, holding up the ring.

"That's it?" Urd asked, amazed that it had been so easy.

"That's it," he confirmed. "You want this back?"

"No!" Urd replied, pulling the hairs off her arm and watching her hand go back to normal. "You should destroy that. There's some kind of spell on it linking it to a demon named Corus. He's been... appearing to me..."

"Oh no he hasn't," Gwydion said, tossing the ring into a trash can.

"I think I would know!" Urd said, folding her arms over her chest and glaring darkly.

He poured another shot as he regarded her. "Urd, the only charm on this ring is the spiritbond. That's it."

She squirmed in her seat. "That can't be right," she breathed.

He poured her one more and handed it to her. "Something you would like to talk about?" he asked.

She downed the shot in one go. "No," she said quickly.

"Ah," he replied, shrugging before sipping at his own drink. "I remember him," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Big guy, bald, flair for the dramatic."

"Sounds like him," she said darkly, handing the glass back to him.

He refilled it and handed it back. "So what's the occasion?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Gwydion shook his head. "No occasion," he said quietly. "It lets me sleep."

"Because of your curse?" she asked.

He didn't ask how she knew, he merely nodded. "Mostly," he told her. "Mostly." Now, with the crisis resolved, his speech was slurring just a little as he made an effort to relax.

"I think your girlfriend blames me," Urd said with a sheepish chuckle. "She's given me nothing but grief since I met her."

"She and Gaeriel were close," Gwydion muttered, his eyelids getting heavier. "If she hates demons for anything, it's that. I think she's forgiven me, but she'll never forget."

Urd looked down at her glass. "Forgiven you?"

He looked over at her, and for the first time Urd noticed just how exhausted he was, straddling the ragged edge of sleep. "I killed her," he said. "She died because of me." He turned away from her. "I educated her, trained her, sponsored her into Division..." She heard a quick influx of breath or a sob, she couldn't be sure which. "Watched her die in my arms..."

Urd turned away, suddenly feeling that she had done wrong by bringing the subject up. She drained her glass and stood up. "I'll let you sleep," she said quietly.

He didn't look at her. His head lolled to one side, having finally, mercifully, passed out.

The goddess quietly tip-toed out of his room, sliding the door shut behind her.

888

Gwydion's brand wasn't like sake, and Urd was feeling sloshed by the time she got to her room. Unwilling to go to sleep just yet, she pulled the cap off a bottle of sake and took a swig, collapsing into her futon as she did so.

"I don't know, what do you think?" she asked aloud after another long swig. Looking up, she saw the usually peaceful face of her angel looking back at her, her eyes swirling in a caricature of inebriation. World of Elegance shrugged and hiccuped.

Urd snorted. "Lightweight."

She had been so cruel to Belldandy over the last few weeks. A lot of it was stress, she knew. Being stalked from beyond the abyss by a demon she tricked into marrying her would do that to a girl. But that wasn't all of it.

Urd, unofficial goddess of love, the nearly universally acknowledged "sexy sister," was jealous.

She sighed. She wasn't jealous of Belldandy having Keiichi, but of what Keiichi represented. Only Keiichi would put up with the last three years of potions, plots, demons and practical jokes for the sake of a girl. Only Keiichi would think to ask Urd if he could help. Only Keiichi would try so hard to learn about Belldandy.

Urd had heard a lot of mortals opine that Keiichi and Belldandy's story was about a boy who found the perfect girlfriend. Urd would venture to say that it was a story about a goddess who found the perfect boyfriend.

And what would be _her_ fate? Would she live with her sister and her new husband after they were married? Would she be that spinster that the loving newlywed couple couldn't get rid of no matter how hard they tried?

Or would she return to Heaven, go home every night to their dark, cold house, open a bottle of sake and silently hate her sister for being lucky enough to find a man like Keiichi Morisato?

She chuckled and groaned. "Maybe I can move in with Frigga," she noted. Her stepmother would love that.

Flopping back on the futon, she felt the sake bottle roll from her fingers as her eyes drifted shut.

"Do you know what you need?"

She lifted her head and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as her soggy mind tried to make sense of it. Belldandy was sitting at her worktable wearing a leather catsuit. A whip hung at her belt and a pair of neko ears sat atop her head.

"Huh?" Urd asked.

Belldandy grinned devilishly at her. "Do you know what you need?" she asked again. She spun around in her chair. "You, my dear, lonesome sister, need a man. If only for ten minutes."

"That is an oversimplification of a very complex problem and you know it!" Urd heard from the other side of the room.

She turned her head and shook it. "Peorth?"

The dark-haired goddess was standing in the corner of her room, near her potions shelf, covered from head to toe in a nun's habit. "What she needs, is spiritual fulfillment."

"The only fulfillment she needs is the physical kind," Belldandy retorted, standing up and approaching her sister. "Isn't that right, dear sister?" she asked. "How long has it been since a man has shown that kind of interest in you? Not counting Keiichi, of course, who managed to spurn your childish advances."

She felt gentle hands on her face and turned to see Peorth kneeling next to her. "You're hurt," Peorth told her gently. "Your sister's engagement and this episode with Corus have both wounded you and thrown into stark contrast what your life lacks."

"And it is nothing that a good fling won't fix!" Belldandy argued. "Get up, pack a bag, grab your vacuum, then walk out the front door and fly off to Tahiti! Lay on the beach, pick up some nice twenty-something year old with great guns and a Porsche and you will see how quickly these doldrums will pass!"

"A spiritual hole cannot be filled with booze and sex!" Peorth snapped at her.

"And it cannot be filled with pity and empty platitudes!" Belldandy retorted.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Urd cried, her fingers going to her temples. "It sounds like you..." She pointed at Peorth. "...want me to go on some kind of spiritual journey, and you..." She pointed at Belldandy. "...want me to hook up with Aoshima."

"Oh, Heavens no!" Belldandy and Peorth cried.

"Okay, so how do I fill this hole?" she asked. Seeing Belldandy start to open her mouth, she quickly added. "The spiritual one!"

Seeing her side starting to win out, Peorth took Urd's hands in her own. "You're lonely. That's nothing to be ashamed of. If you feel that's something your life lacks, then seek it out. There are many gods out there who seek a strong, caring goddess to fill the emptiness in their lives just as you wish to fill the emptiness in yours."

"Aramis flies a Firebolt," Belldandy inserted in a sing-song voice.

Peorth rolled her eyes. "Despite what my trampy colleague here suggests, you should not base your search on appearances or material possessions. You're jealous of your sister: look at what she based her search on. She found love at the ass end of the Japanese university system living in a one-room dorm making slave wages by fixing mopeds on the weekends." She squeezed Urd's hands to accentuate her next point. "And she has _never_ been happier."

"I'm not going out with one of Keiichi's bum friends," Urd stated pointedly.

Peorth smiled. "Of course not. You're not looking of any of a million men, you're looking for someone for _you._ Someone who possesses something the others lack."

"Which is?" Urd asked.

The goddess released her hands and stood up. "I'll let you figure it out."

Urd's eyes snapped open, the sunlight pouring into her room causing her to flinch. It was morning. Of the trampy Belldandy and nunnish Peorth, there was no sign.

"Johnny Walker is definitely no friend of mine," she muttered.

She was about to roll over and go back to sleep when she heard the sound of glass clinking nearby. Quickly turning over again, she saw several small creatures working together to carry a beaker out of her room. The goddess leapt to her feet.

"DAMN HIPPIES!"

As the Fraggles dashed off screaming in different directions, Skuld and Gwydion walked by her door and looked inside.

"Can't you just leave those poor creatures alone?!" Skuld chastised her.

Urd growled as she replaced the beaker on her workbench. "What are you doing up so early?" she shot back.

"It's two o'clock in the afternoon," Skuld replied with an arched eyebrow. "And you've been drinking again."

"Skuld, leave Urd alone," Gwydion said, coming to the goddess' defense. "She had a busy night."

"I bet," Skuld huffed. Without another word, she started for the door.

Gwydion and Urd stood there for a moment, silently regarding one another.

"Thanks," she said. "For last night."

"Don't mention it," he replied.

"I owe you. Really," she pressed. "I was really... Well..."

Neither spoke for a moment. Gwydion turned to leave. "You don't owe me anything, Urd. I was happy to help."

With that, he stepped out of the room. Urd listened to the sound of his cane striking the hardwood floor as we walked toward the front door.

She sighed and sat down at her workbench. "No, I do owe you," she whispered. "And I'm going to pay you back."

The goddess grinned evilly. "I promise."


	2. A Striking Girl

Foreword: Ah! My Goddess is not mine. The Fraggles belong to Jim Henson.

I want to thank everyone who's read and reviewed the series so far. Special thanks go out to WillZ and Sethra for their help with this fic.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 2

A "Striking" Girl

_Where does the wind come from in this place?_

It was strange the kind of things you think about under extreme stress. He had never seen a more dire situation than the one they were in, and the only thing he could ask himself was where the wind in The Roundtable came from. This bleak place, a collection of floating stones from worlds long gone or never even created, adrift in the ether of nothingness, could very well be their tomb.

But the wind was blowing, and it irritated him that he couldn't figure out where it came from.

Taking a breath, he stood up just as Phobos approached.

"Sir, she's awake."

Gwydion pushed past him and walked by four other gods, a full half of his remaining contingent, and found the nest of boulders between which they had sought shelter. Lying on a cloak in the center of these boulders, his best friend was slowly opening her eyes again.

"Did we win?" Yazlyn asked him with a painful smile.

"Well," he whispered back, kneeling next to her. "I hope this teaches you a lesson about arrogance."

"It was nine to one, I got eight," she retorted. She closed her eyes for a moment. "How many left?"

"Eight," he told her. He watched as she winced.

"What's the plan?" she asked.

"We're falling back to the hardline," he told her. "The demons are radiating some kind of field that keeps us from making contact with Lind or The Almighty."

"You know they'll try to cut us off," she told him.

"The alternative is to set up shop and retire out here," he pointed out.

"No thanks, they don't get ESPN out here and this year I hear the Jaguars' coach is getting a wish."

He smiled gently.

"Where's Gaeriel?" she asked.

"She's on perimeter," he told her.

"She did good today, Gwydion," Yazlyn told him. "You should be proud."

He nodded. "I am."

"Sensei?"

"Huh?"

"Am what?" Skuld asked, looking at him quizzically. Suddenly, he was back in the Morisato's courtyard. Behind his student, three rocks the size of the girl's head were flying in a figure eight, without her even having to look at them.

Gwydion shook himself out of his reverie. "I said I'm proud of you Skuld," he told her, really meaning it. "You've come a long way in a week."

"Really?!"

"Yes. You have a real talent," he told her. "You just have to nurture and develop it."

Skuld looked like she was about to tackle hug him, but stopped herself, turning and putting her hands on her hips. She posed theatrically. "Of course! Master of science, master of magic! And once I've mastered both, I'll..."

"Still be talking a good game without actually backing it up?" Urd asked, walking up to them.

The young goddess growled, but struck another pose. "Your verbal barbs mean nothing to me anymore, Urd," she said, tossing her nose in the air. "Pretty soon, I'll be better at this than you."

"Heaven forfend," Urd said mockingly.

"Lunch time!" they heard Belldandy call from the house.

"We'll continue this later," Gwydion announced. He watched as Skuld dropped the rocks and started quickly for the temple. The god sighed and turned to Urd. "Why must you constantly tease her?"

Urd folded her arms over her chest. "I'm keeping her honest. She has a big head about herself, Gwydion. If you let it balloon up too fast, she can hurt herself."

The instructor started for the house. "You could be tutoring her, you know," he said. "Particularly when we start on potions. That's always a difficult subject."

"Like she'd even let me," Urd told him. She noticed his sour demeanor and the slower steps he was taking today. "Bad day?"

"It's going to rain," he said irritably. "Earth can be very humid."

"Have you given any thought on your wish?" she asked slyly.

He sighed. "No, I have not, and as I keep telling you, you don't owe me anything, certainly not a wish that you have no authority to grant."

"Oh, come on!" Urd cried in amusement. "It's not a _real_ wish, just a request that would be within my power to grant to show my appreciation for what you did." She stepped in front of him and put her hands on her hips. "And I _am_ 'authorized' to grant quite a bit."

Despite the protests, Urd was truly enjoying this game, something she had picked up from Peorth, as much as it pained her to admit it. Pestering Gwydion was slowly but surely drawing him out, and if he did make a request, she could repay her debt with a clean conscience.

"Fine, stop teasing Skuld," he demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "That would be granting _her_ wish."

He walked around her. "Well, as you seem to be the authority on what I can and can't wish for, you tell me."

She grinned, elated that he was playing her game. "That would be cheating," she tossed out playfully.

888

In the kitchen, Belldandy overheard the two bickering outside and smiled. Despite a rocky start, Gwydion and her sister seemed to be getting along quite well. Placing a plate in front of Skuld, she called out down the hall.

"Keiichi san? Lunch is ready."

"Be right there," he called back. Sitting at his desk, he scratched his head and tried rereading the paragraph again out loud, hoping it would make more sense when spoken.

"'With traits that define the concept as purely altruistic, mercy must not be granted as a quid pro quo as that would reduce the act to one of a mere commercial contract with no true altruism involved and only the shadow of mercy made apparent.'"

He blinked and shook his head again. "How come she never talks like this?" he asked himself, regarding the book Urd brought back for him again. Belldandy's name sat under the title in an elegant script.

Keiichi was trying hard to learn more about his fiancé, but he had been reading for an hour and was only on the tenth page of her book. Sighing, he closed it. Maybe one of the others...

Grabbing the next book off the pile, a paperback, he opened it without looking at the cover. To his delight, this one seemed to be written plainly without the intellectual language so prevalent in the other.

He was ten pages in before he realized it, the story just flowing off the page. The main character, a samurai named Keitaro, was helping a young woman recover a bag of gold she lost in the market. It was a pretty ho-hum story thus far, but Belldandy wrote it so eloquently it seemed real.

"Keiichi san! Lunch!"

He flipped the page again and continued reading.

_As Keitaro placed his sword on the wall of his modest home, he reflected on his life thus far, marred by the incessant light shed from an unlucky star far above, he wondered aloud if this was all his life would hold. _

_He pulled the sword from its sheathe and regarded the reflection cast from the mirrored blade. _

_As he was about to replace the weapon, a blue light shone from cold steel, causing him to cry out in surprise and drop his beloved katana. The young man looked on in awe as the light bent and twisted until the form of a beautiful young woman stood before him. _

_Blue eyes stared back at his own. "I am the Goddess Eriadne," she said, her voice a musical contralto. "And I've come to grant your fondest wish..."_

"What are you reading?"

Keiichi shut the book suddenly and hid it behind his back. Belldandy looked down at him, blinking in puzzlement.

"Nothing!" he cried.

"Oh," she said. "Lunch is ready."

"Okay," he said. He watched her walk out and dog-eared the page he was on before following her into the dining room.

888

"So what do I learn next?" Skuld asked.

Sitting across from the young goddess, Gwydion chewed silently as he considered it. "Transmogrification, I think. Turning objects into other objects."

"Is that hard?"

"Only as hard as it sounds," he told her.

"It'll be just like your inventions," Urd said supportively. "You know, like when you turn working pieces of crap into broken pieces of crap."

Skuld leapt to her feet and reached into her shirt for a Skuld Bomb. Before she could finish, however, Belldandy appeared and placed a bowl of ice cream in front of her.

Her anger forgotten, Skuld squealed and dived into the treat.

"Do you think transmogrification is a good idea so soon, Gwydion sensei?" Belldandy asked.

"She has a good grasp on manipulation of objects, I think this is a good move," the teacher told her. "She's already working on elemental magic."

Keiichi listened half-heartedly. Whenever the subject turned to magic he felt like an outsider. It was something he couldn't really share in. He knew in the future it would only get worse as Belldandy taught their own children magic while he stood on the sidelines. After all, fixing motorcycles and playing baseball couldn't really compare to turning rocks into cotton candy.

"Oh, Oneesama! Guess what? I've been reading your book as part of my lessons!"

Belldandy's smile reached her ears. "Really? Is it helping?"

Skuld nodded. "I'm about halfway through, but it's making me think of things I didn't think to wonder before!"

"Wait a minute! You understand it?!"

They all looked at Keiichi in puzzlement.

"Um... Yeah," Skuld replied. "Shouldn't I?"

Urd nudged Keiichi's shoulder. "Keiichi's been reading it too," she told them. "You shouldn't feel bad if it's hard. It was written for gods and goddesses, after all."

"Keiichi san? You're reading my book?" Belldandy asked, her eyes starting to mist over.

"Well... one of them," he replied shiftily.

She was suddenly kneeling next to him. "And?" she prompted.

He was trapped. "Well... I'm not very far into it," he confessed. "But it's... it's very interesting."

"That's wonderful!" Belldandy cried. "I'm so glad you like it!"

"Yeah... yeah, it's great," he said. Urd grinned at him like a Cheshire Cat. He suddenly looked at his watch. "Oh, I have to go!" he lied. "Stuff to do today!" Hopping to his feet, he went to his room and retrieved both books before rushing out the door.

888

"Okay, let's do this," Keiichi said, sitting down at the park bench and pulling 'The Economics of Altruism' from his backpack.

'_When one considers the rampant decline in the amount of mercy shown to others across every realm, one can only conclude the dividend of peace attained after the War Against God has run out. To ascertain whether this is so, we must first look to the decline of the well-being and altruism of...'_

He shut the book. This wasn't working. Replacing it in the knapsack, he pulled out the other book, 'Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms.'

"_My fondest wish?" Keitaro asked. Images of him sitting in the lap of luxury surrounded by beautiful women entered his mind. _I could wish for this? _he thought. _

"_If it is money you desire, I can grant you more than you can spend in a lifetime," she told him. "Or if you wish the destruction of the world, I can grant that as well."_

_Images of him on a mountaintop, laughing as Edo burned below him crashed into his thoughts._

"_But," Eriadne continued. "I must warn you that you only get one wish." She held up a single finger. _

Keiichi continued reading, finding the dialogue more and more familiar.

"Man, this guy has a serious self esteem problem," he muttered, turning the page. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes glued to one section of dialogue.

"_Very well, Goddess," Keitaro said quietly. "I know now what I shall wish for."_

"_Hai?" she asked, clasping her hands before her in anticipation._

"_I would like..."_

"_Hai?!"_

"_... a goddess like you...to always be by my side."_

He shut the book like the page just caught fire. A moment later, he opened it to make sure he had read it right.

He read it right.

Shutting the book again, he quickly shoved it back into his bag.

_What the hell?!_ he thought. _I mean, what the hell?!_

"Get a grip, Keiichi," he told himself. "Just get a grip... Oh, man, this is like the stupid movie with the kid and the book only without the stupid dragon!"

Picking up the backpack, he pulled the book out and continued reading.

888

"Surely there is _something_ you want from me," Urd teased, leaning across the table which now only she and Gwydion occupied.

Skuld had left to get her book on altering shapes and Belldandy was off doing laundry, leaving the two of them alone. Urd felt it was safe to continue her game.

"You're the expert, you tell me," Gwydion replied, taking another spoonful of rice.

"Where's the fun in that?" Urd asked, resting her chin on the back of her hand.

"It's your game, where's the fun in any of it?" he asked pointedly.

"I'm having fun."

The chopsticks froze halfway to his lips.

"_I'm having fun," she said, looking down at him, her face a sinister mask of cruel pleasure. _

"You're stubborn," Urd teased.

"_You're a stubborn one, I know," she opined, resting her foot on his broken wing. "But I'll break you."_

"Don't worry," Urd whispered with a smile. "I'll break you yet."

He stood up suddenly and turned from her. "Tell Skuld I'll wait for her outside," he said quickly, grabbing his cane and limping out the door faster than Urd had ever seen him move.

The Norn sighed. "Well, now what did I do?"

888

Megumi put down her textbook as a panicked knock sounded from her front door. Hopping up, she looked through the window before opening it.

"Kei chan? What's going on? You look like someone just chased you here."

Keiichi, panting, held up Belldandy's book. "This is going to sound weird, but I think this book is about me."

"What?" she asked, taking 'Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms' from him.

"I'm serious!" he cried. "Just look."

Megumi opened the book and read through the first page. "Kei chan, this guy is a samurai."

"I know, but... look at the dialogue, the characters!"

She continued reading, thumbing through it while Keiichi went to her kitchen to get a glass of water. After five minutes, he prompted her.

"Well?" he asked.

"I don't see it," she said.

_Of course she wouldn't, _Keiichi thought. _I never went into detail how Belldandy and I met..._

"Okay, try this," he said. He took the book and flipped a few pages. "You're in this too."

"I am?" she asked. "Were there a lot of cute coed engineering students in medieval Japan?"

"Well... she took some artistic license," he admitted. He handed the book back to her.

She read, and her face lit up. "I'm a freaking _ninja?!_" she cried. "Killer!"

"Focus, Megumi!"

She rolled her eyes and kept reading. "Okay, so his ninja sister... which is badass, by the way... comes from their home in Hokkaido and meets them, and the samurai has to keep Eriadne's identity a secret. That seems like a pretty logical plot point."

"No, it's not! It's the exact same thing I did to you!"

"Right, Kei chan, lots of different people would. That's what makes it the logical thing to do."

He grabbed the book and continued turning pages. "Okay, here's the part where her sister arrives and tries to seduce me... er... Keitaro..."

This time she didn't even look at the book. "Are you saying Urd tried to seduce you?"

"Yeah," he said. He gestured to the book, prompting her to read.

"Okay, Kei chan, look, there's suspension of disbelief and then there's flat out lying your ass off."

"It's true!" he cried.

She looked down at the book and flipped through more pages. Suddenly, she stopped, her eyebrows arching in interest. "Now _here's_ an interesting chapter!" she cried.

"What? Where?" he asked. "I only got about halfway through."

Megumi looked at him evilly and cleared her throat. "'The samurai's hands circled her from behind, and she felt the soft brushing of his lips on the back of her neck. Her kimono loosened, and her obi fell to the floor as the mortal slowly undressed her...'"

"WHAT?!"

He leapt for the book, but she dodged him, turning quickly away and rushing to the other side of the room, reading quickly as she ran.

"'Rough hands calloused from years of swordplay seemed as soft and gentle as those of a newborn child as they cupped her...ACK!"

Keiichi had finally tackled his sister, wrenching the book from her and reading the pages for himself. The college student turned a deep crimson. "When the hell does _this _take place!?" he demanded.

888

Skuld's eyes raced across each line systematically, turning each page after about ten seconds. Almost like keeping cadence was the sound of Belldandy rapidly chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter.

The chopping stopped as the goddess paused to look for another cucumber. Seeing it on the kitchen table, she started for it.

"Oh, Oneesama! I got it!" Skuld cried. She raised her hands, and the cucumber rose into the air. It hovered for a moment, then shot over Belldandy's shoulder like a bullet and smashed through the window.

Skuld fidgeted sheepishly. "Gomen," she muttered.

Belldandy only smiled. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it as you fine tune your control," she said encouragingly. "You've come so far so quickly. You can't expect to be an expert already."

"Yeah, I guess."

"How do you like Gwydion sensei?" Belldandy asked, finding another cucumber in the refrigerator's crisper.

With her back to her sister, she couldn't see Skuld fidget. "I'm learning a lot," she said. "He has a way of speaking, you know. A way of making me understand the first time."

"That's good!"

"Oneesama, did you... like... your teacher?"

"Celestin?" the older goddess replied as she resumed chopping vegetables. "Yes, I did. He was very kind and taught me many things."

"No, I mean... did you _like_ him?"

Belldandy turned back to look at her. "You mean as a person?"

Skuld sighed. "No, I mean..."

"Yes, what do you mean?"

Skuld jumped at the sound and turned to find Urd sitting next to her, her chin resting on the back of her hand and her accusing smile letting the young goddess know she already knew the answer.

Skuld looked down at her lap. "Nuth'n."

Belldandy blinked at her.

"No, please, ask your question," Urd pleaded. "You're obviously concerned about something."

Skuld threw her nose into the air. "It's none of your business."

"Fine, fine, if it makes you feel better, I'll leave." With that, the older Norn stood up and walked out of the room.

Belldandy looked back at Skuld. The raven-haired young woman held a finger up, bidding her sister not to speak. "Keep going!" she shouted.

They heard a sigh, and a chibi-Urd walked out from behind a potted plant and out the door.

Skuld nodded and turned back to her sister. "I mean, did you _really like_ him... Like you like Keiichi now?"

Belldandy caught her breath and turned away from her. "I don't know," she said. "I was very young, and he was so..." She turned back. "But now that I know the kinds of things he wanted, I don't see how I ever could. Why do you ask?"

"Because she loooooves him!"

"URD!" Skuld screamed, hopping out of her chair and knocking a bread basket off the counter. Exposed, another chibi-Urd looked from side to side for a way out.

"Neesan!" Belldandy chastised.

Urd's adult form appeared in a puff of smoke, her hands on her hips. "That _was_ what you were going to say, wasn't it?"

"NO!"

"Come on, it's quite common for an impressionable, immature young goddess to fall for her instructor," Urd teased with a wink. "And Gwydion does have that wounded bird thing going for him."

Skuld gritted her teeth so hard Belldandy could hear them grinding together from across the room.

"That's _not_ what I'm talking about!" Skuld shouted at her. "You're such a jerk!"

"Come on!" Urd said. "It's cute!"

"Neesan..."

"You probably look up at him with those doe-like eyes while he teaches you..."

"Um... Neesan..."

"And you think maybe he'll teach you _other_ things about being an adult," Urd said with another wink.

"... Neesan, I think this is important..."

"Huh?" Urd asked, turning to Belldandy.

The middle Norn pointed at Skuld, and Urd turned back to find her littlest sister's eyes closed and her arms outstretched while she chanted softly.

"Oh, this is going to be bad, isn't it?" Urd asked.

"_Wind tighten, twist and twirl before me and become a tempest in a teapot!"_

A small golf ball-sized cloud of compressed air gathered itself in front of Urd...

And exploded.

Half the kitchen wall blew out into the garden outside with Urd skidding to a stop near the tomatoes.

"I can't believe that worked!" she heard Skuld cry in delight. "I just came up with that off the top of my head! Isn't that cool!?"

Urd pushed herself up and nodded. "Yeah, that was so awesome," she said in mock excitement. "It's almost as good as this one!"

Skuld screamed as a bolt of lightning detonated at her feet, launching her into the koi pond. Her head popped out of the water a moment later, gasping for breath.

Urd continued dusting herself off as Skuld climbed out of the pond and wrung out her shirt. The two faced off like a pair of old west gunslingers.

"Skuld! Neesan!" Belldandy begged from the hole that used to be the kitchen. "Remember, you're sisters!"

Urd smiled and summoned a tiny bolt of lighting to run up and down her hand. "If you really think you're ready for the big leagues, then batter up!"

Skuld growled and closed her eyes, extending her arms as she cast a new spell. Urd braced herself for the hit.

She was interrupted mid-cast when Gwydion's cane came down on her arms.

"OW!"she cried. She looked up at her instructor's enraged face.

"Would you care to tell me just what the hell you think you're doing?!" he hissed.

"Sensei! I..."

He grabbed the back of her shirt and whirled her around to give her a good look at the house. "You think you're on the playground back in Heaven?!" he demanded. "You're in a mortal realm! That's someone's house! Someone's _home!_"

Urd felt a pang of sympathy for her sister and raised a finger. "Gwydion, I..."

"I'm talking to my student!" he growled before turning back to her sister.

"What if Keiichi had been in that kitchen?" he asked her. "Or some other mortal who isn't as durable as you? That explosion could have launched someone into a tree! Broken their neck! _Killed them!_"

"Sensei, gomen! I.. I just..."

He pulled her by the shirt toward a large tree with a good view of the house. "I told you I'd treat you like an adult as long as you acted like one, well now you can be punished like a child! You sit here and you think about the kind of awesome power you're learning to use and you think about the irresponsible jackasses throughout our history who have used that to hurt people and then just say, 'gomen!'" He pushed her onto the grass that grew beneath the tree.

"Meanwhile, I'll think about whether or not to wash you out!" he growled, turning on his heel and limping away.

"Sensei! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" Skuld cried at his back.

Urd stepped into his path. "Don't you think that was a little harsh?" she asked accusingly.

"Don't you question me for setting and keeping the standards she agreed to meet," he growled. "You have a responsibility to her too, you know. You're her role model. She looks up to you. You should be doing it better and cleaner than the next goddess!"

"Me? A role model?!" Urd retorted in disbelief. She laughed. "Right! She looks up to me the way I look up to Marller!"

Gwydion put his face an inch from hers. "If she hates you so much, then why are you the one she's constantly emulating?"

He walked up into the hole to find Belldandy magically mending the damage. "Is everyone all right, Lady Belldandy?"

She paused and smiled. "Yes, Gwydion sensei, thank you. I'll have it patched up in no time."

"Wait a minute!" Urd called, climbing through the hole after him. "Don't walk away from me!"

He turned and faced her.

"You're not really going to fail her, are you?!" she demanded.

"I said I'd think about it, didn't I?" he countered.

"She just made a mistake! I mean... It was my fault!"

"Well," Gwydion said, leaning heavily on his cane. "That much, at least, is true. You were teasing her, weren't you? After I asked you to stop."

Urd didn't answer. She didn't have to.

"She has a temper on her," Gwydion told her. "And a sister who takes a perverse joy in bringing it out. The things I'm teaching her can be very dangerous if not controlled, and she just showed me she can be _teased_ into losing that control. I'm her instructor, and if I decide she doesn't have the chops to use magic, then she doesn't use magic!"

"She's not perfect!" Urd shot back. "She's not your little Gaeriel, born and bred for greatness!"

If there was an absolute wrong thing to say, it was that.

He took two steps toward her, his face a mask of rage. "Don't you dare say her name as if you knew her," he growled. "And don't you dare use her as an excuse. The _only_ difference between Skuld and Gaeriel is that Gaeriel's family got _behind_ her and encouraged her to greatness! They didn't sabotage her at..."

"I am _not_ sabotaging her!"

"Well you're not helping her either!" he growled. He turned and walked for the door. "I'll make my decision later."

Urd stood there and seethed.

"Neesan, that was over the line," Belldandy told her.

"Tell me about it! Can you believe what he said?!"

"I meant you."

"Huh?"

Belldandy looked at her sadly. "Neesan, The Almighty told me about his last student. That was a very cruel thing to say."

"He's going to fail Skuld," she growled back. "How can you just stand there and let that happen!?"

"He's not going to fail Skuld," Belldandy said assuredly. "But he wants her to know that what she did was wrong, and he wants _you_ to know it as well."

Urd rested her hands on the counter. "This is my fault," she said quietly.

"Yes," Belldandy told her. "It is. So what are you going to do about it?"

888

Skuld looked up quickly as the sound of footfalls reached her ears. Her face fell a moment later when she saw it was Urd.

"What do you want?" she asked sullenly.

Urd sat on the grass next to her. "I'm being punished," she said.

"What?"

The older goddess shrugged. "It's not right that you be the only one punished. I teased you into that fight, so here I am."

Skuld turned away from her, hugging her knees to her chest. "He's going to fail me," she whispered.

"I don't think so," Urd said. "He's trying to scare you. He likes you, and he wants to see you do great things. I just screwed it up for you today, that's all."

"You really think it'll be okay?" Skuld asked. "He was so mad..."

"I think it's because he does care," Urd told her. "Look, I promise from now on I won't tease you so hard, okay? And I'll even help you with your studies. You're going to be learning potions and alchemy soon. I can help."

Skuld smiled just a little. "Thanks, Urd."

They were interrupted by another set of approaching footfalls. Looking up, they saw Gwydion's stern face looking back at them.

"On your feet," he ordered Skuld. She climbed to her feet and stood before him. He struggled to one knee to look her in the eye.

"A goddess can do a great many things with a first class license," he told her quietly, all trace of anger gone. "Gods have killed billions with a first class license. Destroyed entire species, reduced realms to cinder and ash with a first class license. It is the greatest responsibility a god can take on. Before you test for one, you have to show you have the discipline to use it wisely. Every time you use magic, you must ask yourself, 'am I using it for the right reasons?' Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei," she said with a deep nod.

"Okay, end of speech," he said. "Off you go."

Skuld nodded. "Thank you, Sensei. I won't do it again."

"I know. Go on. Scat."

The young goddess walked quickly away, relieved to get out with so light a punishment.

Gwydion grunted as he climbed to his feet.

"You old softy," Urd said with a smile.

"I hope she wasn't the only one to learn something today," he grumbled.

"I learned you're an ass," she said evenly, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well, I'm not about to argue with facts," he conceded.

Her smile fell a bit. "I owe you an apology," she said. "I was out of line earlier."

"Forget it," he said quietly, turning away.

"You must have cared for her a great deal," Urd called to his back.

He stopped mid-stride. "Who told you about Gaeriel, anyway?" he asked.

"You did. The other night," Urd lied.

"No," he told her. "A couple of years of drinking every night gets you accustomed to remembering things. I mentioned her, but you never asked who she was. You already knew. So who was it? Yazlyn? She barely discusses it with _me_. The Almighty? He doesn't think it's any of his business."

Urd bit her lip. "I have a friend in the Combat Division," she conceded.

"Uh huh," he said, walking up to her. "Then I'm sure he or she told you all about her. But if you want to hear it from me, then here it is. I loved her like she was my own daughter. I had never taken as much pride in any student as I took from her. She could have done anything she wanted, and unlike some of the other instructors I knew, egomaniacal cocksures like Celestin, I did everything I could to discourage her from following my path. But when she told me she wanted Division... How could I not be proud?"

He shook his head. "And as much as I tell myself I did what I could to steer her toward another path, I still know the truth. I drove the next great goddess of our time straight to her grave, and my own soul straight to Hell."

The teacher turned away again and started for the house. This time, Urd let him go.

888

Keiichi quietly closed the front door behind him and made his way ninja-like through the house until he found the person he was looking for.

"Urd!" he hissed across the living room. "Urd!"

The goddess looked up and found him waving her over. Sighing in exasperation, the Norn stood up and walked over to him.

"Why are you whispering?" she asked in a whisper.

He took her hand and dragged her into his room. Once he was sure they were alone, he held the book up.

"This book is about me," he told her.

"What?" she asked skeptically, grabbing it from him. "No it's not!"

"Yes, it is! Have you read it?"

"Of course I have!"

"Then you know!"

She rolled her eyes and flipped through the pages. "So you're a medieval samurai now?"

"Well... No, but..." He faltered. "But I mean look right here!" He took the book and flipped through it. "See? Here you are! When Eriadne's meddlesome sister comes down to..." He saw Urd's eyes narrow angrily as she folded her arms across her chest. "I mean... comes to... save their relationship..."

He sighed and gave up. "It's like it's based on my life."

"I find that very hard to believe," Urd told him.

"And why is that?"

"Because I first read this book about a hundred years before you were born," she stated.

Keiichi paused while his brain tried to reconcile that. "Then... how... I mean..." He found some resolve and rallied. "The book is about a man who wishes that a goddess stays with him forever and they fall in love and..."

Urd clapped her hands on his shoulders. "Keiichi, instead of finding something sinister in this book, maybe you should just enjoy the fact that you were able to be something Belldandy may have once fantasized about."

"Um... fantasized?"

The goddess smiled. "Heaven can be a lonely place. Isn't it possible that Belldandy wondered what it would be like to have a tempestuous love affair with a backwards and savage mortal?"

"'Backwards?'"

"I don't think you realize just how flattering your wish to her was," she said with a wink. "After all, you could have had _anything_ you wanted, and all you wanted was her. That's got to make a girl weak-kneed."

He had never thought of it like that before, always assuming that his wish had somehow burdened Belldandy. It never occurred to him that she felt flattered by the romance of it all.

"Now, then," Urd continued. "Instead of crying like a little girl, perhaps this is a sign that you should cowboy up and do something daring."

"What?!"

"I'm referring to page one hundred and forty three," she said, flipping to the appropriate page. "The chapter where Eriadne and Keitaro..."

He swiped the book from her. "I'm well aware of what they do on page a hundred and forty three!" he huffed.

"Good! Think of it as a walkthrough."

He sighed. "I thought you were going to stop meddling now that we were engaged," he said.

"And again with the word that just pisses me off..." Urd said with narrowed eyes.

"Look," he said with a sigh. "You think I don't _want_ to... you know?" He sat down and tossed the book to the side. "But she is so old fashioned and so innocent that I think if I brought the idea up it would break her brain."

"The same brain that thought up a hundred and forty three?" Urd asked, arms folded over her chest.

"She's not Eriadne," he said.

"And you are not Keitaro," she added. "Aside from getting creeped out, did you like the book?"

"Well, yeah," he said. "It's a fun little story."

"Then tell her that," Urd told him. "Belldandy put serious effort into this book, and I think she'd much rather hear that than complaints about how she wrote about your life a hundred or so years ago."

He smiled and nodded. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Urd said knowingly.

"Thanks, Urd," he told her as he stood.

"Don't mention it," she said.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, changing the subject. "You've seemed to be better this last week. Everything okay now?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, everything's good."

"I'm glad. Belldandy was really worried about you."

The Norn shook her head. "I was so awful to her."

"She knows you didn't mean it," Keiichi told her consolingly.

"Yeah, but I need to make it up to her somehow." She arched an eyebrow. "Any ideas?"

"Well... I have one."

888

Urd took a breath and began. "All right, look. We've obviously had our differences in the past."

Belldandy smiled and encouraged her to continue.

"We come from different worlds, and I know you don't mean to royally piss me off," Urd continued. "You're just curious, and I realize that." She sighed. "So I'm sorry I tried to murder you."

Belldandy clapped happily. The Fraggles sitting on their kitchen table looked to one another and shrugged. A light green one with fluffy hair hesitantly raised his hand.

"Yes, the little green annoying one," Urd recognized.

"Does this mean we can have some of those herbs and spices?"

"Those aren't herbs ands spices," Urd said. "Those are magical ingredients designed to radically change the molecular structure of objects in various ways. If you ate some of that, your body would turn inside out and your heart would explode. So in answer to your question, yes."

Belldandy nudged her and gave her a look. Urd sighed. "I'll set aside some samples of the stuff that won't turn you inside out so you can try it."

"YAY!" the Fraggles cried.

Another Fraggle raised her hand. Urd pointed.

"Yes, the little red annoying one."

"Can we have some radishes?" The other Fraggles all nodded excitedly at this prospect.

Urd rubbed her temples, and Belldandy smiled. "Hai! I'll pick up some extra radishes next time at the store and Urd can leave them in her room for you!"

"YAY!"

A third Fraggle raised his hand. Urd once again pointed.

"Yes, the other little red annoying one."

"Would you listen to me read a post card from my uncle, Traveling Matt?"

Urd gritted her teeth. "There are limits to my mercy," she hissed.

The Fraggles cowered.

Belldandy intervened. "I think we've made a lot of progress here today. I'll get some radishes for you, and I'm sure Urd will have that sample platter of... um... spices for you tonight. Okay?"

The Fraggles all nodded nervously while Urd glared at them. One by one, they hopped off the table and started for the hole in the kitchen wall.

Belldandy beamed. "See? Isn't sharing much better than trying to wipe out a civilization of small creatures?"

Urd rubbed her temples again. "Yeah," she lied. "Much better." Looking up at her smiling sister, her expression softened. "Yeah. Belldandy, I'm sorry. I've been... I've been so horrible to you lately."

"Neesan," Belldandy said softly. "Whatever I did to make you so angry at me... I'm sorry." She took her sister's hand. "You're my sister, and I love you. And if I did or said something to hurt you, please know I didn't mean it."

It was too much for Urd to take. "You didn't do anything, Belldandy," she said, a tear appearing at the corner of her eye. "I've just been messed up lately. So much going on that I... that I didn't want to tell you about, and I still don't. But it's over now."

"Neesan, you don't have to be alone," Belldandy told her. "Ever."

"I know," Urd told her. "I do."

Belldandy smiled.

"Oh, and I finished your new book," Urd said, eager to change the subject. "Even showed it to a friend. He said he likes it."

"Really?!" Belldandy asked excitedly, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Yeah, how long did it take you to write, anyway?" Urd leaned against the kitchen table, arms crossed.

"Well, with the right inspiration, it only took me about a month," Belldandy said happily, eager to discuss her work. Her face fell slightly a moment later. "Do you think Keiichi will be angry... about basing it on us, I mean?"

Urd grinned. "Not at all."

The younger woman sighed in relief. "Good. Because Azure Cloud Publications offered me enough money to pay for the wedding, which will really help. I don't want Keiichi to try working all those extra jobs like you had him doing that first Christmas."

"Now, that wasn't my fault," Urd pointed out. "Your fiancé is just too willing to sacrifice for you."

Belldandy smiled knowingly. "I love him so much," she said quietly.

"Your book shows it. Although, I noticed some creative license... around page a hundred and forty three..."

Belldandy turned red and wouldn't meet Urd's eyes. "Hai." Eager to change the subject, she turned back to the publisher. "Oh, and listen to this. White Horse Comics wants to adapt the book into a manga."

Urd snorted. "A comic about you and Keiichi's relationship?"

She shook her head.

"Who's going to pay to read that?"

888

"_I chose you, you know,"_ he heard in his mind as he fingered the memory coin. There, shining behind his eyes, she smiled at him. He heard thunder in the distance and knew the rain he felt earlier was coming.

He hated talking about her. Worse than the pain that came from his curse was the pain from his guilt. It amplified his physical pain, made it more right and reinforced the fact that he deserved it and worse.

_I shouldn't even be teaching,_ he thought. _Haven't I done enough damage?_

Why had The Almighty given him this assignment? There were plenty of qualified instructors out there. Was he doing this to kick Gwydion in the rear for his own good? Or did he really have some ulterior motive?

The Almighty had implied as much. And here Gwydion was, going along with it.

He had spent most of his life teaching young gods and goddesses. Some went on to do great things, and some settled for less in life. What would Skuld's destiny be?

Would she be the next Lind, promoted to the top of her field as a brilliant leader?

Or the next Gaeriel, struck down far before her time?

Hearing a knock on the door, he placed the coin on the table and stood up, more slowly than he would like. It was probably Urd back to pester him.

Opening the door, he found Skuld standing there, a determined look pinching her face and her hands behind her back.

"Skuld," he greeted. "Something wrong?"

The goddess dithered for a moment then reached out and pushed a bento into his hands before running down the hallway.

He watched her disappear around a corner and looked down at the box. Opening it, he found several rice balls.

He smiled. No, Skuld was not Gaeriel, nor was she Lind.

She was all Skuld.

The god choked back a chuckle and quietly closed the door.


	3. Some Other Somebody

Foreword: Ah! My Goddess does not belong to me. It was created by Kousuke Fujishima. The poem Gwydion recites was not written by him, but by Lt. Harry Harbord Morant in 1893. It's called, "Behind the Bar - A Desecration of Tennyson." Gwydion is based loosely on Morant, and any poem he recites or claims credit for is written by Morant. This isn't an attempt to steal from the Breaker, just a combination of respect for the soldier poet and an inability to write poetry myself.

**Blessings: Broken Bow**

**Chapter 3**

**Some Other Somebody**

"Holy mackerel on toast!" the young goddess cried as she entered the building. It was like a warehouse for baked goods: Cakes, pies, souffles were practically piled one on top of the other in a room the size of Lambeau Field with barely enough space for her and her guide to walk between them.

She adjusted her chef's hat and followed the other goddess, one even younger than herself, past several cakes, each with the same theme.

Wedding cakes.

"What is all this, Minuette?" she asked her guide.

The other goddess turned back and smiled uncertainly, her powder blue hair flowing down her back like a waterfall in a Thomas Kincaid painting. "I have no idea."

"What?"

"All I know is that one day three years ago, Lady Frigga came into the building all happy and started baking. Always wedding cakes or wedding-themed food, and she hasn't stopped since then."

"Just baking for no reason?" the young goddess asked.

Minuette shrugged. "I'm sure she has a reason. Lady Frigga has the gift of prophecy. She can see the future. The only problem is she never tells anyone what she sees, so we're all left here to guess. All I know is any time she sells stock, I sell the same."

"So why am I here? Suddenly she needs more bakers?"

Minuette edged between two cakes. "Lady Frigga wants to visit her daughters, so she needs someone to continue baking in her absence."

"So I'm a stand-in?"

"Essentially." Minuette stopped as the pastry jungle suddenly gave way to a large kitchen. They arrived just as the timer on an oven went off, and a middle-aged, but still strikingly beautiful auburn-haired woman leapt forward to remove a cake pan.

"Ah, Minuette, good! Good!" she cried, placing the cake pan on the stove-top to cool. "This is Annapurna?"

"Yes, Milady," Minuette," told her.

"Good! Good!" the queen of the gods said, absently. "There are three souffles in the far oven, they have to cook for another eighteen days. I also need two more, six-layer cakes by the end of the week and a jello statue of the goddess of love."

"Which one?" Annapurna asked.

"All of them, of course!" Frigga told her as she gathered her things. "I have some packing to do. Minuette, will you be ready to go tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, Milady."

"Good! Good!" Frigga repeated.

"Milady," Annapurna began uncertainly. "May I ask what is going on?"

Frigga smiled, her blue eyes dancing. "My little Verthy is getting married!" she exclaimed.

"Congratulations!" Annapurna cried happily.

The queen nodded happily. "Indeed! Her fiancé popped the question oh... about two months ago."

Annapurna looked around. "You've been baking for three years," she pointed out.

"Yes, child, well _I've_ known for quite some time." She checked one or two last things and started for the door. "After all, who do you think even assigned her to that case to begin with?"

888

Belldandy hummed quietly as she worked on her cross-stitch. Sitting on the futon in her room with her back to the door, she didn't notice it slide open and closed.

She gasped suddenly as strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind. Dropping her cross-stitch, her hands found those arms just as a pair of lips kissed her neck below her ear. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Keiichi san," she whispered.

"Belldandy," he whispered back, the breath from her name tickling her ear. "I have another wish for you."

_Oh, why does he have to say my name like _that she asked herself just as his hand pulled from her waist and started caressing the area of her back between her shoulder blades. The goddess felt the urge to simply go limp into her fiance's arms as a soft moan escaped her lips.

"Keiichi san," she sighed. "Take me to bed..."

The goddess' eyes popped open and she sat bolt upright as if electrocuted. Looking quickly around, she found herself just where she was when she went to sleep that night, lying next to Keiichi in his room.

Her hand went to her neck just under her ear and looked down at her fiancé. Keiichi was snoring peacefully. It had all been a dream.

Rising to her feet, the goddess walked to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Placing her hand on her heart, she found her pulse racing. It had been so real, so vivid...

So incredible.

She leaned against the bathroom wall and sighed. Why did this have to be so hard? It was so difficult being so close to him and not...

It was at the point where she was thinking about moving back into her room, but what would she tell Keiichi? He would almost surely see it as a rejection. And what would he think of the truth?

The wedding could be as far off as two years from now.

She would simply have to bear it, and she hated thinking of it that way, thinking of loving Keiichi like that as a burden instead of the blessing she knew it to be.

Taking a breath, she turned out the bathroom light and went back to bed.

888

Belldandy yawned as she handed Keiichi his lunch. She saw him arch his eyebrows through his goggles as the Beemer idled.

"Belldandy, are you okay?" he asked.

She smiled. "I'm just tired, Keiichi san."

Before he could inquire further, the sound of Skuld's frustrated voice came wafting over the temple wall.

"Change! Change! The power of Skuld _compels you! The power of Skuld compels you!_"

"I guess Skuld is having a hard time with the new subject, huh?" Keiichi asked. "What is it? Transpo...Transyvania..."

"Transmogrification," Belldandy supplied. "It can be a very difficult subject to master. I hope Gwydion isn't giving her a bite too big for her to chew."

"Well, if anyone can figure it out, it's Skuld," he said. "Hey, you want to do something this weekend?" he asked.

"What would you like to do?" she asked, smiling and leaning closer to him by supporting herself on the handlebars.

"Well... I don't know, but let's do _something,_" he said. "Get out of the house for awhile."

"Hai!" she agreed. She moved forward to kiss him goodbye.

What started as a peck on the lips drew itself out into something much more passionate than she meant to offer him. A full twenty seconds later, their lips parted.

"Um... wow," he said. "Um..."

Slightly red-faced, Belldandy stepped back. "Have a good day at school, Keiichi san," she said quietly.

"Yeah, uh, you too," he said.

Belldandy watched him drive off before starting up the steps again. As she reentered the courtyard, she found Skuld growling at a stone the size of a bowling ball.

"If you weren't already a stupid rock I'd turn you to stone!" the girl cried.

"Skuld..."

The raven-haired goddess turned to the sound and found Urd leaning against a tree not far away. "Don't start, Urd," she warned.

"I'm not going to 'start,'" Urd told her. "I'm going to help."

"Oh yeah?! How?!"

Urd stepped forward and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You have to look at your approach," she said. "For instance, if I ordered you to turn into something you weren't, would you want to listen to me?"

"No, because you'd turn me into something weird," Skuld pouted.

"Not even if I yelled or threatened to beat you with a stick? Would you feel like changing then?"

"No," Skuld grumbled. She perked up a moment later. "So... You're saying I have to make it want to change?"

Urd grinned. "See? Now you're getting it."

"So how do I do that?"

The elder goddess shrugged. "You'll think of something." She started for the house again, meeting up with Belldandy halfway there.

"How is she doing?" Belldandy asked.

"She'll get it," Urd told her.

"Where is Gwydion sensei?" Belldandy asked. "I thought he'd be here to work with her."

Urd's lips twisted uncomfortably. "It rained last night, so he's having a very rough morning. I told him I'd watch her today."

Despite the news of their guest not feeling well, Belldandy smiled. "I'm glad to see you and he are getting along now. You were so rancorous to one another before."

The older Norn shrugged. "We just had to understand where one another was coming from."

As they entered the house, Belldandy took a quick look around the living room and tallied up the amount of work she would need to do today.

"Did Keiichi leave already?" Urd asked. "Shouldn't you go too?"

"I don't have classes today," Belldandy told her. "But Keiichi san has German this morning. After that, he's free."

"Why do you still call him that?"

"Eh?"

"You two are engaged," Urd pointed out. "Don't you think it's time to drop the 'san?'"

"It's polite," Belldandy argued. "Besides... That's who he is. He's Keiichi san."

"Why not 'anata?' Or 'Keiichi sama?'"

"We're not married yet," Belldandy pointed out. "And he asked me not to call him 'Keiichi sama.'"

"Kei chan?" Urd pressed.

"He's a man, Neesan!"

"It's cute! That's what Megumi calls him."

"Yes, well, I don't think..."

They heard a crash from the kitchen and rushed to the next room. The oven door was open, and thick black smoke was gushing from the appliance.

Urd coughed and waved the smoke away. "Are you cooking?" she asked.

"No!" Belldandy replied. "I have no..."

Something leapt at them through the smoke, and before either could chant a protective ward, it was on them.

"MY GIRLS!"

Both goddess squealed as something gripped them tightly, squeezing the breath from them. The smoke gradually cleared, but they knew the voice immediately.

"Moder!" Belldandy cried happily.

Urd sighed.

The last traces of the smoke disappeared, and Frigga turned to shut the oven door. "Let me see it!" she demanded, spinning again to face Belldandy. "Let me see it!"

On cue, the middle Norn held out her left hand. Frigga took it and squealed at the sight of the diamond. She hugged Belldandy again, and the two bounced up and down in a giggling fit.

Urd sighed again.

Frigga released Belldandy and turned to Urd. "And how is my oldest?" she asked.

"I'm good, Frigga, how are things in Heaven?"

The matron's face fell. She sniffled. "'Frigga?'" she asked. "A lifetime and more thou hast spent under my roof, beneath my wing and thou can only speak of me by formal words!?"

Belldandy sighed in exasperation. "Neesan, please! You know how she gets when you do that!"

"Though true we art separated by blood and only blood, thou art, in my heart, my eldest daughter! My beloved Urd!" Frigga continued to cry.

Urd hung her head and sighed. "I mean, 'hello... Mama...'"

Frigga brightened as if someone flipped a switch and leapt forward to hug the Norn.

As Urd flailed, Skuld's voice came floating through the hall.

"Urd, could you tell me what I'm doing wrong here? I tried to turn that rock into gold but all I end up with is a big steaming pile of dog cr... MAMA!?"

"Skuld!"

Urd gasped for breath as her step-mother turned her attentions toward Skuld.

As the goddess queen squeezed the life out of her daughter, a young, blue haired goddess entered the room.

"Milady, I have your luggage, but all the rooms appear to be occupied," Minuette said.

"Oh, you can go ahead and put that in my room," Belldandy told her. "I don't sl..." She broke off and looked to Frigga, who was looking at her in puzzlement. "My room is fine," Belldandy finished.

Minuette smiled. "You must be Verthandi," she said. "My name is Minuette. It's very nice to meet you."

"Minuette is my lady in waiting," Frigga explained. "Minuette, these are my other two daughters, Urd and Skuld."

888

Urd rapped gently at the door before opening it. "Gwydion? Are you awake?" she asked.

She found the teacher in mid drink, his eye tracking her before he put the bottle down. "Augh," he groaned. "Urd! What brings you here tonight?! I thought I told you to not come back unless you brought a bottle of your own!"

"It's noon," she told him with an amused smile. "Feeling any better?"

"My dear Norn," he said, swaying from side to side until he finally reached out and steadied himself. "I feel simply capital!"

She folded her arms over her chest. "Oh?" she asked. "You could barely walk this morning."

"While you may not appre...appresheeit... the medicinal talents of the good Mr. Walker, I stand before you as proof of what four bottles of it will do for a god of the line."

Urd had to hold back laughter. She had seen Gwydion drunk but never so sloshed that it negated his pain. It was a shame, really, as he seemed more fun this way.

"'Gray eyes and gamboge hair!'" he cried, gesturing to her with his outstretched arm. "'One barmaid of The Crown! Ah, will that beaming siren still be there, when I go next to town? When over-night much spirit I have qua...qua... QUAFFED!'" He took an unsteady step toward her. "'How I was wont to bless... That nymph who, smiling... mixed my morning draught...'"

"That's beautiful," Urd said jokingly. "Who wrote it?"

"Just a minor poet named Gwydion," he pronounced, taking another pull from the bottle.

"Never heard of him," Urd admitted.

"Well, I _did_ say he was a_ minor_ poet..." Gwydion told her.

"So you're a poet now too?" Urd asked.

"No, I was a poet then. I'm a teacher now." He stumbled over his crippled leg and caught himself on the desk. "Poet, soldier, teacher... So what's next? Tinker, right?"

Before she could answer, he fell face first onto his futon and started to snore.

"Something like that," Urd agreed. Kneeling next to him, she took the bottle from his hands and pulled a blanket over him.

888

"So!" Frigga began as she sat at the table. "Where is he? Where is the father of my grandchildren?" She looked from side to side as if expecting Keiichi to appear from thin air any moment.

Belldandy smiled with a touch of embarrassment. "He's at school today, Moder. He'll be back this afternoon."

"School?!" Frigga asked. "Well, that's just unacceptable." She stood up and started for the stove. "I didn't travel across three realms to wait. It's Nekomi Tech, right?"

Belldandy's eyes went wide as she watched her mother climb into the oven and disappear. She looked over at Skuld, who had a similar panicked look.

Without a shared word between them, they both ran for their respective travel mediums.

888

Sora Hasegawa steeled herself as she put pot holder gloves on her hands. Here it was, her third attempt at gingerbread men. Around her, other young women in the basic culinary arts course stood by their ovens, waiting for the fruits of their labor to be finished. For them it was a grade, for Hasegawa it was proof to herself that she could do it.

Finally, the timer rang, and Hasegawa launched herself at the oven door, pulling down and reaching inside...

She cried out in shock as someone grabbed her arm from inside the oven and stepped out.

"Thank you, young lady!" Frigga told her. The goddess handed her the gingerbread man that had been baking, one of its arms missing. "It's quite good. Try adding a touch more sugar next time. Ta!"

With that, the godly queen started for the door.

Hasegawa watched her walk out the door, then promptly fainted.

888

"So where do you think I should take her?" Keiichi asked in a hushed whisper as their professor continued to drone on about German pronouns.

Megumi thought on this for a moment. "Well, there's that new botanical garden that opened in Chiiba City," she said. "I heard it's nice."

Neither of them noticed at first when the doors at the back of the lecture hall burst open. It wasn't until they heard a woman's voice call out that Megumi looked up. "Oh, Kei chan, this has _got_ to be for you..."

"Where is he?!" Frigga demanded. "Where is the young man who is going to marry my daughter?!"

Keiichi saw the elaborately dressed woman and promptly dropped under the desk to hide.

"Well, class," the professor announced dryly. "It would appear that someone's paternity test results have come back from the lab." The class guffawed. "How may I help you, madame?"

Frigga pulled out a small photo of Keiichi and Belldandy. "I'm looking for this man," she announced.

The professor regarded the photo for a moment. "Morisato!" he called out.

"This isn't happening," Keiichi whispered.

"Oh, it's happening, Kei chan," Megumi whispered back as she watched the professor point in their direction and the goddess start their way. "And it's heading right for us."

"Is it bad?" he asked.

"Well... I don't think it can get worse," she remarked.

Suddenly, Belldandy's voice called out from the back of the class.

"Moder! What are you doing here?!"

"I retract my last comment," Megumi told him.

"The father of my grandchildren is somewhere in this room," Frigga announced to the class. "Bring him forth and thou shalt have punch and pie!"

"Oh, cripes," Keiichi whimpered.

"I don't know, Kei chan, punch and pie sounds pretty good..."

"MORISATO!" he heard as beefy hands grabbed him and lifted him from his hiding place. Looking down, he saw Tamiya looking up at him.

"Senpai!"

"Is it true what this attractive older woman says?" he demanded. "Are you having little Otamiya ahead of schedule?"

"'Otamiya?'" Megumi asked.

Standing next to Tamiya, Otaki nodded. "We came up with it. It's half my name and half Dai chan's..."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Megumi interrupted.

"There he is! There he is!" Frigga announced, pushing her way toward them. Tamiya put Keiichi back on his feet as the queen came up to them. She pushed a plate of pie into the senpai's hand, pulled from who knows where, and hugged Keiichi.

"My new son!" she cried happily.

Watching from the stairway with her hand over her mouth, Belldandy wasn't sure what to do. The rest of the class watched in puzzled amusement as Frigga stepped back and studied him like a new car on the lot.

"No body fat, good posture, a little short, but I think more than adequate." She turned to Belldandy. "Yes, I'm sure he's quite virile, Verthy!"

The class burst into laughter.

"MODER!" Belldandy cried, horrified.

Keiichi sighed, his head drooping. "I suppose it still counts as a compliment..."

"This is really not the best place to discuss this kind of thing," Belldandy told her mother urgently, but respectfully.

"Um, we still haven't been introduced," Keiichi interjected.

"I am your new mother!" Frigga told her happily.

"Well... that clears that right up," Megumi added.

Belldandy took Frigga's arm. "Moder, please, we'll see Keiichi this afternoon. He has class right now."

Frigga looked around as if realizing they were in a public place for the first time. "Ah," she said, finally getting the point. "Well, if you insist, Verthy." She turned to Keiichi and hugged him again, adding a peck on the cheek. "We'll see you after school, hon. Ta!"

Turning on her heel, she strolled out of the classroom as casually as if she owned it. Belldandy rushed to Keiichi.

"Keiichi san, I am so sorry," she said.

"It's okay," he sighed. "So that's your mom, huh?"

"Hai. She showed up today for a visit and immediately wanted to meet you."

"Morisato san, if you're finished with your conjugal visit," the professor prompted, causing the class to snicker again.

"I'd better go," Belldandy told him.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight," Keiichi told her.

She gave him an apologetic smile. "I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you too," he replied.

He watched her walk out the door then turned to find the entire class staring at him with evil gleams in their eyes.

Sighing, he sat back down and braced himself for the first wisecrack.

888

Urd met them in the kitchen as the three goddesses reentered the house from their various travel mediums.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

Belldandy smiled in embarrassment. "Moder wanted to meet Keiichi... right now."

"And I missed it!?" Urd exclaimed.

"He seems like a nice boy," Frigga announced as she walked by them toward the living room.

The three sisters followed. "Moder, please remember that things are a little different in this realm," Belldandy began.

Before she could get further, they had entered the living room to find the image of The Almighty staring back them from the TV.

"Kami sama?" Belldandy asked.

"Frigga stay. Everyone else, out!" God ordered.

The queen folded her arms over her chest as the three young goddesses quickly left the room. The door shut behind them, and the sisters stared amazed at the doorway as shouting erupted from the other side.

"Wow," Skuld breathed. "I've never heard them fight like that before. What do you think is going on?"

Urd shook her head, herself amazed.

"Do you think Mama going to the school did this?" Skuld asked.

"No, of course not," Belldandy replied.

"Shhh!" Urd ordered. "I can't hear what they're saying."

"I can't hear anything," Skuld whispered. "You?"

Urd's eyes narrowed as she strained to hear it. Considering how thin the walls were, they should have had no problem hearing it. There must be an enchantment up to block the sound. Considering they could still hear them yelling at all told her it must be one hell of a fight.

Sensing someone's approach, Belldandy looked up to find Minuette walking toward them.

"What is happening?" the lady in waiting asked.

"Mama and Kami sama are fighting," Skuld replied.

"Anything?" Belldandy asked.

Urd shook her head. "Just a piece of something... Frigga just told him he should have sent someone else here." She blinked. "I don't think she was supposed to come here."

Skuld turned to Minuette. "Do you know what's going on?"

The blue-haired woman stared at the door.

"Minuette?"

"Hmm?" she asked, finally turning to Skuld. "No. No, I don't." With that, she turned and started back down the hall.

888

A full ten minutes later, Frigga opened the door to the kitchen and breezed in, smiling. "Your father says 'hi,'" she told her daughters.

"Moder, is everything all right?" Belldandy asked.

"Of course, dear. What time is it? Almost time to start dinner." She opened the refrigerator and helped herself to various ingredients.

"Are you sure, Mama?" Skuld asked. "You and Kami sama were fighting awfully loud."

"Your father and I don't fight, Skuld," Frigga told her. "We disagree with flair." She turned to them. "How many are eating with us?" she asked.

"Seven," Belldandy answered. "Then what were you disagreeing about?"

"Oh, this and that," Frigga answered.

"Uh huh," Urd said. "And that would include?"

Frigga shut the oven door and turned to her daughters angrily. "It would include things I don't feel free to discuss! And thou shalt refrain from further inquiry and keep thy thoughts to thyself!"

The sisters were stunned into silence.

The queen sighed. "Please. I can't talk about it." She looked up at them and smiled. "But everything will be okay."

As the matron went back to preparing dinner, the three Norns looked to one another, thoroughly confused and not at all put at ease by their mother's reassurances.

888

Keiichi wearily climbed the steps up to the shrine, still smarting from the major league verbal butt-kicking he had gotten from his German class after Belldandy had left.

"_So, I guess you have your mom-in-law's vote of confidence. What about Belldandy's?" Megumi had asked with a sly grin._

"_Your mother-in-law is pretty," Tamiya noted._

"_Pretty hot!" Otaki had chimed in._

He sighed. It would take a year to live today down.

So absorbed with his own thoughts, he didn't notice the blue-haired woman until he was already on the porch. "Oh, hello," he said.

Minuette, leaning on the porch railing as she stared out at the garden, turned to him and smiled. "Hello," she said. "You must be Keiichi Morisato."

"That's me," he replied.

"My name is Minuette. I work for Lady Frigga."

"Oh." He heard the older woman's voice inside and hesitated. He wasn't ready to go in and endure another round like the one he had today.

"Lady Frigga is looking forward to meeting you," Minuette said, sensing his hesitation.

"Yeah," Keiichi said hesitantly. "Is she always like that?"

"Hmm?"

"So... boisterous?" he elaborated.

Minuette smiled again. "She is a goddess of the highest choir. As such she has long ago abandoned the idea of curbing her emotions. She would call it a waste of time."

"Uh huh," he replied. "Is that something all goddesses do?"

Minuette shrugged. "There is a difference between not being able to control one's emotions and not caring to." She saw something in his face and pressed. "Does their behavior bother you?"

He shrugged, answering but not really knowing why. "I don't know. Sometimes, maybe."

"You must learn to live within their rules," she told him. "As an outsider looking in, you'll be the one who must adapt. If you don't, you'll never be able to fit into their world."

He thought on that for a moment. "They're so powerful, and at the same time they can be so volatile."

"Do mortal men not prefer volatile women?" Minuette asked.

"Huh?" Keiichi asked, aware that the conversation just did a hard left.

"While Lady Frigga and her daughters were out, I spent the day watching your television," Minuette explained. "It seemed that many men in your dramas are attracted to explosive women with large chests. Is this not so?"

Keiichi cleared his throat. "That's very different," he said.

"How?" she asked.

"Well... It's fantasy, it's not real," he explained. "Humans sometime claim to like one thing, but in reality prefer another. I mean... half the guys who watch those shows probably fell in love with women who are the exact opposite of the girls in those shows."

"Isn't that deception?" she asked.

He shrugged again. "We're all a little different on the inside than we are on the outside."

"No one is a villain in their own story," she noted quietly.

"Um... Yeah, I guess so. I... I should go in," he said.

Minuette didn't look up as he walked inside, engrossed in her own thoughts.

888

"Now then," Frigga announced as she whisked ingredients effortlessly into a large green bowl. "We have much more important topics to discuss, you and I."

Belldandy, the only sister remaining in the room, blinked at her from the counter where she was working. "Eh?"

The queen nodded solemnly. "Vital, in fact." She put the bowl down and dried her hands. "Grandchildren," she said. "How many and when I can expect them. I need to start getting presents."

Belldandy smiled and continued to work, chopping cucumbers. "Moder," she said with a shake of her head.

"Oh no you don't!" Frigga interjected. "I've waited how many centuries for this? You owe me, Verthy."

"I don't know," Belldandy shrugged. "Keiichi san and I haven't really talked about it."

"But you _do_ intend to have children, right?" Frigga asked, just shy of panic.

"Of course we do... I think," Belldandy admitted.

"Excellent! How many?"

The Norn gave it some thought. "Not too many," she said. "But at least thirty."

"Well... if you think that's enough?" Frigga conceded.

They turned as they heard a sigh and saw Urd walk in. "Fertility goddesses," she said, shaking her head. "It's always about the numbers."

"Oh, hush!" Frigga ordered good naturedly. "If you want to take some of the load off Verthy, you could settle down and have a few dozen yourself, you know."

"Pass, thanks," Urd told her.

Belldandy only smiled. "Perhaps you'll change your mind someday."

"Don't count on it."

Frigga was about to throw her own two cents in when she jumped to her feet. "There he is!" She held her arms out wide as Keiichi entered the kitchen.

Belldandy gave him apologetic looks as her mother alternately squeezed her fiancé and forced food on him. As first (or second) meetings went, she had to agree it was still a good one.

888

Though darkness filled the Morisato household as the time approached two a.m., Belldandy had no problem navigating out of the room she shared with Keiichi and toward the kitchen. She sighed and put her hand over her heart, feeling it beat like a drum beneath her chest. It was so loud, she was honestly surprised Keiichi hadn't heard it and woken up.

Another dream, this was even more potent than the last. Under different circumstances, she might even have enjoyed having them, but all it did was cost her another night's sleep.

She saw a light coming from the kitchen and started toward it. When she stepped into the light, she found her mother in a pink bathrobe standing at the counter, making some sort of hot beverage.

"Verthy," she said, automatically filling a second cup. "Come, sit. Have some cocoa."

Belldandy smiled as she readjusted her blue silk robe. That was her mother, all right. Somehow she was always there when something was troubling them, armed with cookies and cocoa. She sat down and took the cup gratefully.

"Now, then," Frigga said, sitting down across from her. "What's troubling you?"

"Am I so obviously troubled?" Belldandy asked, mostly unready to answer the question.

"A mother knows, Verthy," Frigga said with a smile. "Just like I know Skuld has a crush but won't say on whom and Urd is grappling with her own love life after spending so much time worrying about yours. You can't hide from Moder." She took a sip of cocoa.

Belldandy blinked. She knew about Skuld having a crush, but to hear her mother so casually toss out the problem with Urd that Belldandy had been trying to divine for more than a month threw her.

She took a sip then put the cup down, staring down into the swirling brown concoction and trying not to meet her mother's eyes. "I've been having dreams," she said simply.

"Nightmares?" Frigga asked.

Belldandy shook her head. "No, they're..." She cleared her throat nervously. "...about Keiichi... and me..."

Frigga put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. "Do you play tennis in these dreams?" At Belldandy's questioning look, she continued. "Because you're certainly sweating enough."

The Norn blushed furiously. She didn't want to come out and say it, so she just pretended that she had and counted on her mother's ability to know these things.

"Am I a bad person?" she asked.

"Oh, sweetie! Of course not!" Frigga's face went from amused to sympathetic.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Belldandy continued. "But it's to the point where it's difficult to sleep. Perhaps I'm picking up Keiichi san's dreams because we're sleeping so closely together now or..."

"What's wrong with you, Verthandi, is that you're engaged to a man you're deeply in love with," Frigga told her gently. "And when two people love each other to the level you and Keiichi do, certain things are simply natural."

"Yes, but the wedding is still a year, perhaps two years away," Belldandy explained. "I don't want to sleep in a separate room from my fiancé, but it's very difficult..."

"And you want to wait until after you're married," Frigga finished. "Or," she began again. "Do you feel obligated to?"

Belldandy thought about the question and looked down at her cocoa again. "The latter," she said honestly.

Frigga smiled. "Verthy, a relationship runs along three natural tracks." She went to the counter and found three small marshmallows, bringing them back and lining them up on the table. "And they all run parallel to each other like so." She used her spoon to push all three marshmallows side-by-side across the table. "There's the emotional, which you and Keiichi have achieved wonderfully. You are there for one another, you empathize with one another's feelings, and you share your happiness and pain as one entity."

"Spiritually, you're very close," she continued. "That's probably more your doing than his. You both realize there is more to your relationship than a physical or emotional attraction. You've acknowledged that you're soul mates, and that knowledge makes you stronger."

"Then, there is the physical," the older goddess told her. "And here is where you have to be very careful. If this marshmallow goes too fast, it can poison the emotional relationship before it has fully matured. Too slow and it can whittle away at the emotional. After all, men and women, gods and goddesses need to know that the person they love most finds them desirable. If one marshmallow goes too slow, the others slow down to wait for it to catch up."

She looked up at her daughter. "I think perhaps nature is trying to tell you something."

Belldandy blinked. "I don't understand. You've always told me that...well..."

"The word is 'sex,' Verthy," Frigga prompted.

"Yes, that sex was something you wait for until _after_ marriage."

Frigga sighed. "Oh, Verthy, I am afraid I've done you a disservice when I meant only to protect you." She smiled. "Let me be blunt, Verthy. Your sister was almost engaged to a plum tree spirit...gah... _musician... _and to be perfectly frank with you, I _never_ liked the way Celestin looked at you, despite his reputation as a good and honorable god." She reached out and took her daughter's hand. "I always knew greatness would follow you, and I always foresaw a good, honorable man in your life. I wanted your relationship with that man to be pure."

She shrugged. "And perhaps, in my effort to protect that vision, I came off as a little... firm... when it came to intimacy."

Belldandy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Then you think I should..."

"I think you should listen to yourself and nature," Frigga told her. "Nothing more. When the time is right, it is right, and defying nature will only have it react more forcefully." She took a sip of cocoa. "That said, if he tries pushing you into it, you turn him into a toad and not turn him back until he's learned a thing or two about manners!"

"Moder! Keiichi san is a perfect gentleman!" Belldandy argued. "He's never made me feel uncomfortable in any way." Her face fell a moment later as she looked back into her cocoa.

"Something more?"

"Do you think Keiichi san... thinks of me in that way?"

Frigga smiled in genuine amusement. "If there's one thing I know about men, Verthy, is that you could be wearing a potato sack and covered in coal dust and Keiichi would still think of you in that way." Her smile wavered a bit. "You should enjoy these times to the fullest, Verthy. There will come a time when the opportunities to simply enjoy one another's company will come farther and farther apart, and they will be replaced by changing diapers and snuggling my grandchildren. And those will be wonderful things that fill you with joy, but you will also wish that you had gotten in one more uninterrupted, passionate night with your husband when you had the chance."

Belldandy chewed on this and nodded.

"Feel any better?"

She nodded again. "Yes, Moder. I do." Finishing the rest of her cocoa, she turned her attention to other matters. "Now, what's this about Urd?"

888

She was awake, but didn't open her eyes, didn't alter her breathing. To anyone looking at her, she was still asleep, but she was listening, waiting.

After several minutes of hearing nothing but the inhalation and exhalation of breath from the other goddess in the room, Minuette opened her eyes and silently climbed to her feet.

Gliding like a cloud to the other futon, she looked down at Skuld. The young Norn was sleeping peacefully, with just a touch of drool at the corner of her mouth. As the azure-haired woman gazed down at her, she almost felt a touch of regret at what must be done.

A small knife appeared in her hand from the sleeve of the woman's robe. The razor sharp edge glowed a soft, dull blue, but seemed to flash as she raised it...

It disappeared as a loud banging erupted from the door. Skuld's eyes shot open.

"Huh?!"

"RISE AND SHINE!" Gwydion shouted from the other side.

Minuette looked on in shock as a panicked Skuld rushed to the door and opened it, totally ignoring the other woman standing near her.

"Sensei?! What the...?!"

Gwydion marched into the room, an angry look on his face. "Of course! Asleep in bed! I might have known!"

"It's three o'clock in the morning, Sensei!" Skuld cried.

"And we only have three hours to catch the train north," he told her. "We're heading into the mountains to commune with nature and proceed with the next part of your training. Pack your stuff, we leave in five."

"Five minutes?!" Skuld cried in alarm. "But... We need stuff! Supplies! Tents!"

"Supplies?!" he barked. Minuette viewed the conversation with a sense of silent horror. "You young goddesses have it easy. When I first joined Division, we didn't have high tech gadgets and supplies to make us comfortable when we camped out. And we had to worry about dragon attacks! And gryffins! All we had to drive them off with were sticks! _Two _sticks! For an entire platoon! And a rock! And we had to _share_ the rock!"

While he went on with this tirade, Skuld was scurrying from dresser to closet, piling miscellaneous stuff into a gym bag. "What do we need to commune with nature anyway!?" she asked.

"Nature will be sure to send you a note explaining it all and a gift basket when we get there," he growled. "Now move it!"

Skuld squeaked in alarm and rushed out her bedroom door. For the moment, he and Minuette were alone. The goddess pulled the folds of her robe closer together nervously.

He looked over at her. "Who are you?"

"I am the goddess Minuette," she said, her composure visually shaken by the presence of the avenging angel. "Lady Frigga's lady in waiting."

He snorted and left the room. Minuette wasn't sure whether or not to curse or thank her luck that he didn't wait one more second before coming in. Even so, now there was only one other goddess in the house that would meet their purposes.

Aware that pretenses must be maintained, the goddess returned to her futon and went back to sleep.

888

As the train doors closed, Gwydion looked down at his student and saw her yawn. To the girl's credit, she hadn't complained once they left the house. She was developing a sense of discipline beyond that required to use magic.

He bit his lip and resumed fretting. The conversation he'd had with Frigga in his room the previous night still worried him quite a bit.

"_I want you to take Skuld and leave," she said._

"_Leave?" he asked, putting down the bottle of J.W. "And go where?"_

"_Anywhere," the queen told him in a hurried tone. "Anywhere but here. And don't return for at least a week. Can thou do'est that? Is there some excuse, some story thou can put to use?"_

"_I can certainly come up with something," he told her. "May I ask why?"_

"_No, in this my counsel is my own."_

"_Very well, Milady, it shall be done as you ask."_

"_Thank you, Gwydion," she said, a tone of relief seeping slowly into her words. She gave him another serious look. "And I don't want to know where she's going."_

He took another look at the raven-haired girl and sighed. First the cryptic words of The Almighty when he was given this assignment. Now this. It seemed as if, once again, Heaven was placing a great deal of hope into one goddess and entrusting that goddess to him.

He had failed once.

He would not fail again.

888

Keiichi woke to find Belldandy holding him tightly as she continued to snooze next to him. He smiled. Lately he had gotten the impression that she wasn't sleeping well, and that worried him. However, she seemed much more comfortable this morning, so perhaps whatever was bothering her had passed.

She caught him looking at her when her eyes opened suddenly and found his. "Good morning, Keiichi san," she whispered.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked.

Her smile warmed him all over. "Hai. Very well."

888

When Keiichi entered the kitchen, he found six different plates on the table where he usually sat, each one piled with some form of breakfast fare. Pancakes were stacked taller than he was, which, he admitted to himself, was easy enough to do. But there were also waffles, eggs, sausages, miso soup by the gallon and what appeared to be a whole tuna sitting on their kitchen counter.

"Frigga san... are you sure we can eat all this?" he asked.

The look she gave him was pure venom. He quickly backtracked. "I mean... Mom! Mother!? Moder?!"

She smiled. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," she told him.

Urd walked in yawning. "Oh, sweet, breakfast."

Standing at the counter, Minuette was brewing tea for the morning. She had just taken it off the stove when Belldandy entered.

"Has anyone seen Skuld this morning?" she asked. "She's not in her room."

Urd saw Frigga tense a bit. "Frigga... Mama... do you know where Skuld is?"

The queen turned from the stove and smiled. "Of course I do! Gwydion said he was planning on taking her somewhere... training or some such..."

Urd's eyes narrowed. "Really? We were supposed to start her on potions today."

Belldandy and Keiichi watched the exchange in puzzlement.

Frigga cleared her throat. "Well...perhaps he simply forgot thou intended to help..."

"Frigga," Urd began questioningly. "Why are you speaking in the old tongue?"

"Thou art mistaken..." Frigga said quickly.

"You only speak that way when you're spun up about something," Urd told her. "First the fight with Kami sama and now Skuld and Gwydion just up and disappearing? What's going on?"

"Tea, Milady?" Minuette asked, offering a cup to the matron.

"Thank you, Minuette," she said gratefully. "For the girls and Keiichi as well, please."

Keiichi passed on the tea, but Urd and Belldandy each took a cup as Frigga tried to come up with something to say. Belldandy sat at the table next to her while Urd leaned against the counter and waited.

"You know I can't tell you," Frigga told them in a defeated voice.

"You had a vision, didn't you, Moder?" Belldandy prompted.

"A vision?" Keiichi asked.

Belldandy put an encouraging hand on her mother's shoulder while turning to Keiichi. "Moder has the gift of foresight. She can predict the future. But she has never spoken of what she sees. Doing so could poison the timeline."

Frigga took a long pull from her tea. "Believe me, Verthy, Urd, I agonize over it each time, but... This time it's particularly painful."

"Is Skuld in some kind of danger?" Belldandy prompted.

Frigga wouldn't answer.

"You're not supposed to be here, are you?" Urd said. "That's what the fight was about. You're trying to head off whatever this danger to Skuld is without telling anyone, and Kami sama figured it out."

"I can't poison the future," she argued quietly.

"You're already doing that by sending Skuld away," Urd argued. She took a sip of tea as she thought. "But that can't be all of it." Her eyes narrowed. "If it was just Skuld, you would have gone with them."

Belldandy looked at her mother in horrified surprise. "Moder? Is this true? Is one of us also in danger? Is it Keiichi?!"

"Lady Belldandy, your tea is getting cold," Minuette prompted.

"Moder, what did you see?!" Belldandy demanded, ignoring the lady in waiting.

"Any damage to the timeline is already underway," Urd told her. "Since we already know _something_ is wrong, we're going to act differently than we otherwise would have."

Frigga closed her eyes. "It's not Keiichi," she told Belldandy soothingly. She bit her lip painfully. "It's you, Verthy. They're after you too."

"Who?!" Keiichi demanded.

She turned to face him. "I don't know." She closed her eyes as the images popped into her head once more. "I saw fire... fighting... Soldiers in Terminal Dogma" She covered her face with her hands. "Eden's trees fallen to the ground! And _all_ their faces were familiar! Gods and goddesses we know or knew! Friends!" She looked up and took another sip of tea to calm her nerves. "And... I saw the World Tree..." She looked at Belldandy. "Your faces, yours and Skuld's... And the World Tree. I don't know what it means, Verthy, you have to believe me, but I do know you and your sister are in danger."

Belldandy squeezed her mother's shoulder. "It's all right, Moder. Whatever it is, we'll work through it."

Frigga didn't respond. She was holding her tea cup halfway to her lips, her eyes gazing off, fixed at some point in space.

"Moder?" Belldandy blinked. Her mother wasn't even blinking. "Moder?! Urd!" She turned and found Urd frozen in a similar way, her arms shaking as if struggling to move against some invisible force. "Wha..."

Before she could finish someone grabbed her hair from behind and warm steel brushed her neck.

"_Belldandy!"_ Keiichi cried.

Minuette, the glowing knife at his fiance's throat, stared at him, the gentle eyes he met now replaced by cold steeliness. "No further, Morisato san," she ordered.

"Keiichi san," Belldandy gasped out. "Stay back."

Minuette pulled the goddess from her chair and started toward the door to the courtyard. "This would have been much simpler, Lady Belldandy, if you had just drank your tea."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Belldandy asked.

She didn't answer, just continuing to pull Belldandy out into the courtyard. While she had been able to watch some television while her mistress was at Keiichi's school, she had also taken the opportunity to set up a dedicated hardline that would bypass Heaven. Now all she had to do was get her prey to it.

Keiichi followed. "Minuette," he said calmly, trying to keep her from reacting suddenly. "Whatever it is you want, I'm sure we can work this out. Just don't take her."

"Morisato san, I empathize. I really do," Minuette told him. "We have no quarrel with the children of Lillith, but do not force me to restrain you violently."

A few more steps now. The knife glowed at his bride's throat. He wasn't sure what it would do to a goddess, but he knew Minuette wouldn't bother pulling one unless it did something unpleasant.

"If you need a hostage," he said. "Take me." He forced a smile. "I have experience. I'm easier to kill."

"No, it has to be her," Minuette said.

"Keiichi san," Belldandy whimpered, her eyes locking on his. "Don't!"

He bit his lip. Minuette seemed to be heading for the rock garden. He couldn't let her get there.

_Think, Morisato! Think!_ he thought. There had to be some way! But how? He couldn't rush her, even a low level goddess would simply bend a thought toward flinging him across the room and he'd on the other side of Nekomi before he knew what hit him.

"_You must learn to live within their rules," _Minuette's words came back to him.

And then he had it.

They were passing under a grove of trees only twenty feet from the rock garden, when he gathered himself up and hoped his plan would work.

"Belldandy!" he called. His fiance's terrified eyes looked to him. He took a breath. This was going to be bad...

"The wedding's off!" he told her.

She blinked. "What?"

"We can't get married," he told her.

"K...Keiichi san?" Tears pooled into her eyes. "I... But... Is this really the time?" The last question came out as an incredulous whimper.

"I'm just telling you," he said, "_And any powerful forces of nature that might be listening!"_ he added loudly. "That you and I _can't_ get married _because_ Minuette has that knife at your throat."

There was a loud crack from above. Minuette paused and looked up just as a heavy branch fell from one of the trees, swinging downward and striking her shoulder. The knife dropped from her hand!

Belldandy turned and held her palms up. A blast of wind erupted from her outstretched hands and blasted the other goddess thirty feet away.

The Norn grabbed his hand and started pulling him toward the house. "Run!" she cried.

They heard an unholy scream from behind them and turned to find Minuette staggering to her feet, but this time she was not alone. A dark-haired angel born of sea foam appeared above her, its face a distorted mask of fury.

Belldandy turned and closed her eyes. In a burst of light, Holy Bell appeared above her.

The act seemed to enrage Minuette even more. She spoke, and as she did so, both her lips and the lips of her angel moved as one.

"Race traitor!" she screamed. "Whore to a savage child race!"

Belldandy was taken aback. Even when dealing with demons she had never felt such pure hatred toward her.

As Keiichi watched, his gaze was stolen by something in the sky. Reaching out, he grabbed Belldandy's arm and pulled her back.

"Get down!" he screamed.

As the two hit the ground, a ball of fire struck the ground between them and Minuette. Keiichi struggled to cough the dust out of his lungs. His eyes burned from the dirt and grime as his tears tried to expel them. "Belldandy?!"

He heard her cough and felt around until his hand found hers.

As the smoke cleared, they saw that Minuette was still on her feet, but between them and her stood a woman. At first Belldandy thought it was Lind, but her hair was too long.

The strange woman drew a long rapier that glowed a deep crimson. Minuette's angel screamed in rage and held her hands out to launch an attack, but the other woman was too fast. Before the scream was finished, she was already landing behind Minuette and sheathing her rapier.

A gash of light running across the angel's midsection grew brighter until finally, the angel simply evaporated. Minuette fell to the ground.

Belldandy rushed forward, but the other woman held her palm out, warning her to stay back. The Norn ignored her and knelt next to the blue-haired goddess. Her eyes were closed, and her head moved from side to side as if sleeping in the throes of a nightmare.

Curious, Keiichi stepped forward for a closer look.

Suddenly, with a quick gasp of breath, Minuette's eyes flew open.

"MAMA! MAMA! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! I don't... want an...angel...anymore..."

With that, her head fell back against the earth and was still. Horrified at what she saw, Belldandy covered her mouth with her hands and choked back a sob.

"Verthy! Verthy!"

She turned and saw her mother and Urd rushing out of the house toward them. Minuette's body had already started to sublimate behind her.

Frigga saw the vanishing body and cried out in grieved pain.

"Are you all right?!" Urd asked them, kneeling next to Belldandy.

Belldandy nodded. "Yes, we're fine. But Minuette..."

Urd bit her lip and took her sister's hand, pulling her toward Keiichi. "Keiichi, take Belldandy inside."

He nodded and led his fiancé up to the house.

"It's my fault," Urd heard. Turning, she saw her step-mother kneeling on the ground nearby. "I brought her here." She looked up at Urd. "By doing so I nearly fulfilled my own prophecy."

She hugged Frigga and told her to go check on Keiichi and Belldandy. As she left, she noticed for the first time the woman who had saved her sister and brother in law. She felt her stomach lurch, and her face twisted.

"Oh," she said. "It's you."

Yazlyn smiled with contempt. "Urd at the scene of a crime. How stereotypical," she said.

"What are you doing here?" Urd asked seriously, painfully aware that there were more important things to worry about just then.

The valkyrie shrugged. "The Almighty says go, you go. He says kill a goddess, you kill a goddess. Would you excuse me?"

Turning as if the conversation were over, the warrior touched a soft blue jewel at the base of her neck. "Arc Light, this is Roundhammer Two-Zero. Tango down. Repeat, tango down."

"_Roger, Two-Zero. Remain on station, provide security and await further orders."_

"Understood," Yazlyn said.

Because of the way the jewel worked, Urd was only privy to Yazlyn's half of the conversation, so she was rather surprised when the valkyrie turned to her and said...

"So, when's lunch?"

888

Keiichi led Belldandy into the kitchen and had her sit down. Filling a glass of water from the tap, he knelt next to her and offered it to her. The goddess drank it and put the glass down on the table. She looked at him and leaned forward, kissing him fiercely.

When she finally released him, she took his head in her hands. "Don't ever say that again!" she whimpered. "Not even to save my life! Don't ever say you don't want to marry me! I don't think I could take that kind of pain ever again!"

"I didn't know what else to do," he said softly, taking her hands in his. "I had to do something, and I knew the System Force might kick in, so..."

"Keiichi san, it was brilliant!" she said proudly. "But please don't ever do it again!"

He reached out and held her as she began to cry.

888

"Okay, now that everyone's had a bit to calm down, I think Yazlyn was going to tell us what the heck is going on," Keiichi said, sitting at the kitchen table. He gestured to the valkyrie and offered her the floor. "Yazlyn."

The warrior shrugged. "Beats me."

Keiichi and the goddesses sighed and threw their arms up in the air.

"Who was Minuette?" Urd asked.

Yazlyn shrugged again. "I don't know. A demon of some kind, I guess."

"Banpei kun would have detected a demon," Belldandy pointed out.

Another shrug. "Maybe the demons perfected their infiltration protocols beyond what your little tonka toy can detect. All I know is I was sitting alert and got an order to sortie down here to neutralize a target." She paused, then added. "That's a nice way of saying 'kill someone,' by the way."

Frigga whimpered.

"Do you mind?" Urd growled at the valkyrie.

"Minuette," Frigga whimpered again. "I don't understand. I've known her since she was a small girl no older than Skuld. What could have made her... do such a horrible thing?"

Yazlyn was silent. Either she didn't know or she wasn't sharing.

"Why did she want me or Skuld?" Belldandy asked. "Why us and not Urd or Moder?"

"Well, whatever the reason, it's over now," Urd said, rising to her feet. "Which means you can feel free to leave anytime you want," she threw toward Yazlyn.

"Thank you, I _will _leave when _I_ choose," she replied icily.

"What about Skuld?" Belldandy asked. "Is she in any immediate danger?"

Frigga shook her head. "No. Gwydion has been a loyal retainer to The Almighty his entire life. Even as he is, there is no safer place for Skuld right now than with Gwydion."

888

Skuld screamed in terror as she ran through the forest. "SENSEI! I DON'T THINK THIS IS WORKING!"

Turning her head, she cried out again as two huge black bears continued chasing her.

"They're much more scared of you than you are of them!" Gwydion called out from a nearby rock outcropping. "Communicating with animals is an important part of your training! Now... COMMUNICATE!"

"THEY'RE _BEARS_!"

888

"I'm sure she's fine," Urd added. "Gwydion will take care of her."

"Look, folks," Yazlyn said, rising to her feet. "I know you all have been involved in some very interesting things in the past, but the simplest answer is usually the correct one. This is nothing more than just another demon incursion. We've all seen them before."

No one looked convinced.

"Now," the valkyrie said. "Which room was mine again?"

888

"Are you sure you have to go?" Belldandy asked.

Standing in the kitchen in front of the oven, Frigga turned to face her daughters again. "It was my own actions that brought this on you all. This is why I can't interfere. Now, I have to tell Minuette's mother that her daughter is gone."

"It wasn't your fault, Moder," Belldandy told her. "Minuette acted on her own, for reasons that made sense only to her." She hugged the older goddess. "I wish you would stay longer."

"I'll visit again, Verthy," she said. "But if you ask me what you and Keiichi need right now are less guests, not more." She winked.

She stepped over to Urd. "Good bye, my little Urd."

Urd smiled. "Good bye, Mama. Come again soon."

"I will. And remember something. The first step is admitting it to yourself."

Puzzled, Urd blinked and stepped back. Frigga moved to her right and hugged Keiichi.

"You are a clever young man!" she declared. "Using the System Force instead of it using you! Bravo!" She hugged him again and spoke quietly. "She is very precious to me." Taking a step back, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "And now... so are you."

Keiichi smiled. "Thanks... Mom."

Frigga looked over his shoulder at Yazlyn. "You'll watch over them?"

"Yes, Milady," the valkyrie answered. "Anyone wants them, they'll have to go over me."

The matron nodded. "Thank you."

Turning, Frigga opened the oven and crawled inside. "Be good!" she called as the door closed.

888

The crimson-haired goddess, a Double A patch on her right arm, put the phone down and turned. "Lady Frigga has left the Earth realm. She should be back in Heaven momentarily."

"Good," Lind said, standing at the center of the Tactical Operations Center. Floating before her, a wall of brightly lit cubes showed her Combat Division operations going on throughout Creation. "What's Roundhammer Twenty's status?"

"Holding position at the Morisato residence," the other goddess told her. "Do you want her moved?"

"No," Lind sighed. She watched on another cube as a team of Spartans stormed a residence in Heaven and confronted a god, only to watch the god's angel appear and attack the valkyries. Another screen showed a similar confrontation, this one with a god trying to gain entry to the Yggdrasil substation near Central Dogma.

"Get me The Almighty's office," Lind told the Avenging Angel.

The crimson-haired woman picked up the phone. "Terminal Dogma, Combat." She waited for a moment, then handed Lind the phone.

Lind took the phone and watched as three more Division strikes appeared on the cubes in front of her.

"This is Lind," she said.

"My Lord, it's begun."


	4. In Such a Night

Disclaimer: Ah! Megami Sama is not mine. This will be my last update for a few weeks since I'm going out of town. So chapter 5 probably won't be out until December.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 4

In Such a Night

_There's so many of them!_

Skuld, lying on her back near their small campfire, looked incredulously up at the stars shining over Japan. In the city, even one as small as Nekomi, the lights usually drowned out the starlight. Here, in the middle of nowhere, they were all free to shine down on the earth.

"This realm is so big," she said quietly.

"Eh?"

Turning her head, she saw Gwydion sitting beneath a large tree, his head against the trunk as if resting.

"All those stars," she explained. "It's so big. Are any of them inhabited?"

Her teacher closed his eyes. "No," he said. "The Almighty gave this realm to mortal men and only mortal men. Some of the other realms have more than one sentient life form, but most of them have only one."

"That seems like a waste, doesn't it?" she asked.

"It might seem that way now," Gwydion told her. "The same way a baby confined to its crib might find fault with the wasted space in the rest of the house. But give it a million years or so, and mortals here may just find the universe crowded again."

She looked back up at the stars and saw one shooting overhead. They were leaving for home in the morning after a week of "communing with nature," the highlight of which had been when Skuld had held a conversation with a beaver.

The goddess silently kicked herself. A whole week, and she hadn't had the nerve to really talk with Gwydion.

"Sensei?"

"Hmm?"

She wouldn't look at him, instead continuing to look at the gems scattered across the sky. "Are you married?" she asked quickly.

He laughed gruffly. "No," he said. "There aren't many goddesses who would be willing to put up with a gruff old billy goat like me."

"Maybe," she allowed. "Maybe you just haven't found the right one."

"And just who do you think would be the right one?" he asked.

Undeterred by the roughness in his voice, she continued. "Well, she'd have to be tough," she said. "So she wouldn't be chased off when you're in a mood. But she'd also have to be a little soft, so that she wouldn't just reach back and clock you when you're grumpy."

He chuckled.

"And... um... she'd have to like machines," she threw in.

"Machines, huh?"

She twiddled her thumbs. "Hai."

"A girl like that would be pretty special," he told her.

She blushed. "Hai."

Her gaze turned to see him getting up and heading for the tent. "Far too special to waste on a gruff billy goat like me," he said. "Good night."

Skuld turned back to the stars.

"Darn it."

888

The sun was just starting to rise when the two reached the end of the dirt road back to the small tourist town that housed the train station. The town was small, but shops catering to tourists of every interest lined the street.

"Well, another two hours on a train and we'll be back in Nekomi," Skuld muttered before yawning. They had already been walking for three hours.

Gwydion was nodding but stopped when they passed a small boutique. Sitting on one of the shelves was a small book of haikus.

"I think we might be able to shave some time off that," he said, reaching into his pocket and producing some mortal currency. He paid for the book and started for the bath house.

"You go first," he told her, nodding to the bath. "See you back at the house. No dawdling."

"Yes, Sensei," she said, rushing into the bath.

Gwydion walked around the corner and found a secluded spot. Opening the book, he placed it on the ground before closing his eyes and stepping toward it.

888

Urd yawned and stretched, hardly believing she was up so early. Then again, with that..._ woman_... in the house, she was on edge full time now. She swore she wouldn't let Yazlyn get to her, but she was just so... so...

"Annoying" wasn't a good enough word. Annoying meant that someone was a nuisance. Yazlyn was deliberately goading her, being a jerk on purpose. Urd had gotten in her shots too, but she was tiring of it.

One thing was certain, she didn't feel like leaving yet. Sitting up, she looked for ways to amuse herself until a more civilized hour at which time she would present herself to the world.

Her eyes came to rest on her work table. The book she found last night was still sitting there. Picking it up, she flopped back on her futon and opened it. She couldn't believe someone just left a book on the floor. Flipping through the pages, she saw it was poetry. Not really interested, she flipped through it anyway.

Suddenly, the book flashed with a golden light and turned so that its pages faced up. Afraid to let go, Urd held the book and cried out as a human form, clad in light emerged from it. Obviously not expecting to appear on anything but solid ground, the figure fell forward onto her. They both cried out, and Urd recognized the agonized sound the figure made.

The light subsided, and Gwydion was looking down at her. "Well," he said. "Isn't this awkward?"

He tried to push himself up off her, but realized halfway through the attempt that his body was going to punish him severely if he did.

Urd looked up at him in amusement. It was only then that Gwydion realized she was barely dressed. "You could have just knocked," she told him.

He cleared his throat nervously. "Well, I didn't expect to see you... um..."

She arched an eyebrow. "So, I see you've made your wish." She sighed dramatically. "Very well, if this is really how you want to do it..."

"As if I would ever use a wish, real or not, to take advantage of a woman!" he huffed, genuinely insulted.

Urd had to smile at the thought that _any_ man could just "take advantage" of her. She saw him straining to lift himself off her without hurting himself or touching her any more than he already had.

"Need some help?" she asked.

"A little, if you please," he replied.

She placed a hand on his left shoulder and he winced. "Not there! Not there!" he hissed. She moved her hands closer to his heart. "That's better."

The goddess pushed gently, and he rolled off of her, gasping in pain. Rising to her feet, she offered him a hand up. He took it and looked away. Urd's black chemise hardly qualified as pajamas.

"Thank you," he said quietly, still not looking at her.

She decided to tease him a bit. "Don't tell me the big strong soldier is afraid of girls," she sang with a poke.

He cleared his throat and retrieved his cane before starting for the door.

"Gwydion!"

He turned just in time to catch the book she had tossed at him. "You might want to put that away next time."

The teacher nodded. "Of course. Thank you."

With that, he was out the door.

888

Skuld stepped out of the bathroom and saw Gwydion exiting Urd's room. She blinked as her older sister stood in the doorway and winked. What was worse, however, was the flushed look on her teacher's face.

She found herself glaring at Urd. The older woman looked at her and folded her arms over her chest. "What?"

Skuld waited until Gwydion was out of earshot before marching up to the woman. "And just what was that?" she demanded.

"What was what?" Urd replied.

"You know what was what!" Skuld accused.

A lightbulb went off in Urd's head. "Oh? Does it bother you that he appeared in my room and not yours?"

Skuld balled her hands into fists but quickly reigned her anger back. Instead, she looked up at her sister.

"Dibs," she announced.

"What?" Urd asked, genuinely thrown.

"Dibs," Skuld told her again. "I call dibs."

"Dibs? On... On _Gwydion!?" _she cried. "You can't call dibs on a _person_!"

"Yes, I can," her little sister said confidently. "Dibs."

While Urd searched for an answer, Belldandy turned the corner. "Oh, Skuld! You're back!"

Skuld refused to break her death glare off Urd. Urd, meanwhile, turned to Belldandy.

"Belldandy, your little sister just laid claim to her teacher like he was a derelict boat she towed into harbor."

The middle Norn looked horrified. She took Urd by the shoulders. "Well, did you call dibs?!"

Urd's eyebrow twitched. "What is wrong with you two?!"

"Then my claim is valid!" Skuld cried triumphantly.

The elder goddess sighed. "Fine, whatever, he's all yours." Yawning again, she turned and reentered her room, shutting the door behind her.

"Neesan! Don't you want to claim nextsies first?!" Belldandy cried after her.

Flush with victory, Skuld walked back to her room.

888

"Well, what are you doing here?" Gwydion asked, stupefied by the sight of Yazlyn sitting in front of the TV as he entered the living room.

"Yeah, can you believe it?" she asked. "I'm sitting alert in the rec room, praying to the Almighty that the Sox pull some kind of miracle out of their ass, and the next thing I know I pull a fire mission down here to drop Lady Frigga's lady in waiting."

"Minuette?" Gwydion asked.

"Yeah, I think that was her name," Yazlyn told him. "Tried to kidnap Belldandy. Got here just in time."

"Fill me in."

888

Keiichi placed the metric socket wrench into his tool box and stood up inside the small shed where he kept the Beemer. Hopefully that had her fixed. If not, he was going to have to bring it into the Auto Club and ask Chihiro to look at it.

Giving his beloved motorcycle a loving pat, he didn't notice the man who crept up behind him and grabbed him. All he knew was that he was suddenly slammed against the wall by some crazed madman.

Fear was quickly replaced by mere surprise when he saw who it was.

"Senpai?!"

Otaki held him there, a fearful, crazed look on his face. "Morisato! You have to help me!"

"Okay! Okay! Whatever it is, I'll help! Just let me down!"

The blond man released him, and Keiichi fell to the floor. "Now, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"You've gotta help me!" Otaki cried again. "You and Belldandy! Like you did before! You gotta help me!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Keiichi asked. "Make sense, Senpai!"

The Auto Club manager took a step back and tried to reign in his breathing. "I think I really screwed up, Morisato."

"What did you do?" Keiichi asked. "You didn't wear that cheerleader get up again, did you? You remember what the judge said?"

He looked up at Keiichi, and the college student didn't see the crazy senpai who had ragged him through the first three years of school. He saw a guy who was seriously screwed.

"Morisato, I just asked Satoko to marry me."

888

"Okay, just take us through it step by step," Keiichi said, helping Otaki into a seat at the table before sitting down across from him.

Belldandy, pulled from her cross stitch only a few seconds before, sat next to him and waited to hear the story.

"Can I have some water or something?" Otaki asked. He sounded like a desperate man.

Belldandy hopped up and poured him some water. "Would you like some tea or something else?" she asked.

"No, thank you," he said, downing the water. "Okay, here's what happened. I was posing for one of her latest paintings..."

"Okay, let's just get the uncomfortable part out of the way," Keiichi interrupted. "What were you wearing?"

"One of the outfits from that anime El Hazard."

Keiichi looked at him. "So you were wearing a school uniform... right?"

Otaki didn't answer.

"Just... just continue with the story," Keiichi begged, face in his hands.

Otaki nodded. "So, anyway, I'm posing for her, and she asks what we should get you two for your wedding gift. I said spark plugs, but she was all about the china..."

"We could definitely use some new plates," Belldandy agreed.

"Belldandy, focus," Keiichi nudged her.

"Gomen. Please, go on."

"So, she starts talking about how romantic it was and what a great couple you were and how she hoped we could be like that some day..."

"So she was hinting," Keiichi said.

"I... I guess, I don't know!" Otaki cried.

Belldandy smiled. "I'm sure she was just making a wish that your relationship remain as happy as it is now."

Otaki swallowed nervously. "Right, so... so I was thinking to myself, you know, what the heck, right? So... So I asked her."

Belldandy clapped happily. "Oh, congratulations! She said yes, right?"

Otaki looked shellshocked. "I have no idea!"

"What?" Keiichi asked, his face falling.

"I ran."

Belldandy blinked, and for the first time in his life, Keiichi saw annoyance on her face. "You _ran_?"

"Like a spooked rabbit!" Otaki said, his face ashen. "I don't know what came over me. I just turned and ran!"

"Wow," Keiichi muttered. "This is bad."

"This is awful!" Belldandy agreed. "She must feel heartbroken!"

"What about me?! I'm having an embolism!" He looked like he was on the verge of a complete breakdown. "What do I do?! What do I say?!"

Belldandy sighed. "Otaki san, you have to be honest with your feelings before you can be honest with her," she said gently. "Do you want to marry Satoko san?"

He opened his mouth, but Belldandy cut him off. "Think before you answer," she ordered.

Otaki was breathing like a man who had just finished a marathon. He looked from Belldandy to Keiichi and back several times as he thought.

"Yeah," he said finally. "Yeah, I do!"

Belldandy smiled. "Then you must tell her that."

"But... I ran! I... What do I say?!"

The goddess' smile broadened. "'I love you,' almost always works."

"But just in case, work on your ducking skills," Keiichi threw in.

888

"I do intend to start you on potions this afternoon, but due to recent developments, from this time forward, I will teach you defensive arts in the mornings with your regular lessons in the afternoons," Gwydion told Skuld as he paced before her in the courtyard.

"Defensive arts?" Skuld asked. "You mean like battle magic?"

"Quite," Gwydion told her.

Skuld's eyes took on a malevolently gleeful sparkle. "Excellent," she hissed, rubbing her hands together.

"Yazlyn has agreed to help for this part of the training," Gwydion told her, gesturing to the valkyrie standing next to him. "We're going to start with purely defensive measures, give you enough to survive for a moment, then move on to more... proactive forms of engagement."

Skuld nodded. "Hai, Sensei!"

"First, the force shield," he told her. "A force shield is nothing more than a god's will to prevent harm to himself or others. Strictly speaking there's nothing physically there. It's just the god not wanting anything to get past that point. Understand?"

She nodded.

"Good, now close your eyes and we'll begin."

The young goddess obeyed and waited for directions.

"We're going to start slow and simply," she heard him say. "I want you to imagine a lake somewhere, blue water, surrounded by trees and mountains."

She did as she was told, visualizing the lake in her mind. Just for the fun of it, she tossed in a little fishing cabin on the south shore.

"Now, think of the sun moving over it and the light reflecting on the water. That reflection is your will."

The light flashed on the water, just a sliver of bright light at first.

"Now, have the light consume the top of the lake until you can no longer see the water, put the force of your thoughts into it."

The light expanded, consuming the lake. She felt her body tingle.

"Nothing can get through that light and expose the water until you wish it."

She nodded.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded again.

Gwydion stepped back and gestured to Yazlyn. The valkyrie raised her hand and sent a short bolt of blue magic at the girl.

Skuld squeaked and fell over as the blast hit her in the chest. Shaking her head and blinking, she looked up at the warrior woman.

"Hey! That hurt!" she cried.

"So will the next one," Yazlyn told her. "So I'd try again and put more effort into it."

Skuld growled and hopped to her feet, determined to stop the next one.

A few moments later, she was on her rear again. Again she got up.

Yazlyn and Gwydion stood about twenty feet away, the valkyrie casually raising her hand every few seconds to send a bolt at Skuld, who fell ever time.

"So how long will you stay?" Gwydion asked as the soldier blasted his student again.

Yazlyn shrugged. "Until they tell me to come back, I guess."

"It could be awhile," Gwydion cautioned her. "Are you okay with staying that long?"

Yazlyn blasted Skuld again before answering. "You want me to go, Gwydion?" she asked.

"Not at all," he said with a smile. "To be honest, I feel better with you here. I'm not exactly in fighting trim anymore."

"Ah, I'm sure you could still smite a Hellrider or two if you put your heart into it," she told him, pausing to zap Skuld again. "So, how are you doing... you know... with her around?"

"Hmm?"

"The demon girl," Yazlyn elaborated.

"Urd?" he asked. "Just fine. She's no demon."

She rolled her eyes and casually blasted Skuld back down to the ground. "If that's what they choose to think."

Gwydion didn't like where this conversation was going. He still felt ashamed of the way he had treated Urd the day they met. "She's a nice young woman," he said. "She's got an evil streak, I'll give her that."

"Yeah, I wonder what side she gets that from," Yazlyn quipped.

Before Gwydion could come to Urd's defense again, Yazlyn let loose an energy blast and watched it bounce off Skuld's force shield.

"There you go! Now you've got it!" the valkyrie told her.

Skuld had her hands out, straining with her eyes shut, but her shield did hold.

"Good, now hold it there," Gwydion called out. Yazlyn began peppering her shield until, after a few minutes, it died and Skuld was back on her butt.

"It's a start," Yazlyn told him.

888

Gwydion knocked on the doorframe, more to get her attention than anything else. Urd, wearing considerably more than she was when they "ran into" each other this morning, looked up from her potions cabinet. "Come in," she said. "You're just in time to help."

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Taking your advice to heart," she said, setting aside a couple of vials. "I'm helping Skuld with potions, remember? She's going to need a little starter kit, so I'm building one for her."

"That's generous," he said. "Thank you."

"Well, I'm not including anything that can explode," she told him. "Skuld has this gift for creating things that blow up."

"I've noticed," he said with a tight smile. "How can I help?"

She pointed at a potions rack on the opposite side of the room from her. "Start dividing out about six milligrams of everything there that can't kill us."

He limped over to the table and found some vials with stoppers. Picking up a beaker of dragon-skin oil, he measured out a few milligrams.

"I didn't get to ask," Urd remarked, not bothering to face him. "How was your trip?"

"It went well," he replied, keeping his eyes on his measurements. "She's developing discipline. That will benefit her more than anything I expect."

"I don't see how," Urd muttered.

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't," he grumbled jokingly.

Urd poured a greenish powder into an empty vial and examined it, unaware that something was happening behind her.

"You have imp's blood over there?" she called out.

"Yes," he called back, unaware that Broken Bow was slowly rising from his back. "You have about ten milligrams left."

"Just give her two," Urd told him, examining another vial as World of Elegance rose gracefully behind her. "It's not used that much, and a little goes a long way."

888

Keiichi tossed his keys into the air and caught them deftly as he turned to corner toward Urd's room. He opened his mouth to speak as he turned into the door, but stopped short at the sight that met him.

World of Elegance's eye caught him, and she and Broken Bow quickly disappeared just as Urd turned to him.

"Keiichi? What's up?"

The college student blinked, dumbstruck for a moment.

"Everything okay?" Gwydion asked.

"Um... Yeah," Keiichi told them. "Um... Belldandy and I are going with Otaki to save his love life. Belldandy asked me to tell you that lunch is in the refrigerator."

"Thanks," Urd said, turning back to her work.

Keiichi stood there for another moment. "Everything okay?" he asked.

Urd looked over her shoulder at him. "Yeah. Why?"

He paused, unsure as to how to answer. Finally, he just shook his head. "No reason. See you later."

As he disappeared down the hall, Gwydion shook his head. "Jumpy, isn't he?"

888

Keiichi adjusted his helmet as Otaki's Harley took off toward Satoko's house. Belldandy noticed his change in demeanor and touched his arm. "Keiichi san?"

He looked at her and thought about how much he should say. Finally, curiosity outweighed his doubt and he spoke.

"Belldandy, I just walked into Urd's room, and Gwydion was there," he said. "And her angel and his were... well.."

She blinked. "Were what?"

He chewed his lip and finally just decided to say it. "Well... Their angels were kissing."

Belldandy visibly brightened. She clapped her hands together, dropping her helmet in the process. "That's so adorable!" she cried.

He blinked in astonishment. "So, that kind of thing is... normal?" he asked.

She shrugged and made a noise that said, "so, so." Finally, she found the words to explain it, bending down to pick up her helmet as she did so. "Angels are a reflection of ourselves, down to our last want and desire. As such, they act as our subconscious minds. For World of Elegance and Gwydion's angel to be intimate with one another suggests that Urd and Gwydion are strongly attracted to one another, but just won't admit it."

"If they don't want to admit it, then shouldn't their angels not want to as well?" he asked, helping her into the sidecar.

She shook her head. "It's because they secretly do want to admit it that their angels can act that way."

He was getting more and more confused. "But if it's Gwydion and Urd that have those feelings, why would their angels..."

Belldandy smiled. "It's like I said, an angel is a reflection, an extension of a goddess. It's like me. Because I love you, Holy Bell does as well. If you were a god with an angel, we might be catching them doing the same thing."

He adjusted the strap on his helmet and started the Beemer. "It's never easy, is it?"

Belldandy laughed as the motorcycle started down the road.

888

Otaki was standing by his motorcycle waiting for them when they finally pulled up across the street from Satoko's house.

"Okay," he said nervously. "What do I do?"

"Knock on the door, tell her you love her," Belldandy answered simply.

"Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that," she affirmed.

Unsure, he looked to Keiichi.

"Just be ready to duck," Keiichi told him. "And if she has a rolling pin when she opens the door, just run."

He nodded and started for the front door.

"What do you think?" Keiichi asked his fiancé.

"He can run fast, he'll be all right," she answered.

Otaki pressed the doorbell and waited nervously. His heart was pounding in his chest while at the same time, his stomach was trying to sink out of his body altogether. A new flood of sweat erupted from his forehead as the seconds seemed to drag into hours.

Finally, the door opened, and she stood there. "Otaki san!" she cried, hugging him. "I was so worried!"

"So far, so good," Keiichi said.

Otaki slowly wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Um... Yeah," he said. "About before..."

"Yes, what was that?!" she asked. "We were talking one minute, then suddenly you mumbled something incomprehensible and just ran off! I thought you might have had some kind of aneurism!"

"I... I did?" Otaki asked.

"Yes! I was hoping you'd show up at the Auto Club or your dorm! I was getting ready to call the police to look for you!"

"Oh," he said, somewhat dejectedly.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I... I was going to ask you something," he said. "But now, I..."

"Well? What is it?" she asked.

Otaki looked back at Keiichi and Belldandy, but finding no help there, turned back to her. He was on his own for this one. He had to make a decision...

888

"So we're all invited to the engagement party!" Belldandy announced to the gathered god and goddesses in the room. Megumi leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping a beer. She had come by to drop off a part for Keiichi's Beemer and took the opportunity to meet the new houseguests.

"So he broke down and admitted his feelings, huh?" Urd asked. "I knew he had it in him."

"Yes, some people here could learn from him," Belldandy remarked innocently. Before Urd could ask what she meant, Keiichi broke in.

"There's a catch," he said, sounding like the bearer of bad news.

"Which is?" Skuld asked.

He sighed. "It's a cosplay party. Everyone has to wear a costume."

"Okay," Urd said. "Instead of doing that, could we, perhaps, _not_ do that? You know... instead of doing that?"

"It'll be fun!" Belldandy argued. "Maybe we should pick a theme and go together!" She turned to Keiichi. "What are you dressing up as, Keiichi san?"

"Samurai!" both Megumi and Urd blurted out simultaneously.

The college student gave them both death glares, but Belldandy brightened at the idea. "Then I know exactly what to go as!" she cried.

"Well, you all have fun dressing up as cartoon characters," Gwydion said, rising to his feet.

"You're invited too, Gwydion sensei," Belldandy told him.

"I don't know your friend," he said. "It wouldn't be right."

Skuld smiled. "You can go as my guest, Sensei. It'll be fun!"

Urd rolled her eyes. "Oooh! Subtle!"

"SHUT YOUR FACE!" Skuld barked at her before turning her smile back to her teacher and waiting for an answer.

"Pass," he said. "You go have fun."

Skuld's face fell. "Okay, Sensei."

Yazlyn sighed. "As much as I'd like to say the same, my whole purpose for being here is to protect you two, so I guess I'm going too."

"Well, I'm in too!" Megumi said. "I even know what to wear," she said devilishly.

"Neesan?" Belldandy asked.

"Bar?"

"University president is paying for it," Keiichi confirmed.

"In," she said simply.

888

"So," Urd began as she paced back and forth in the living room. "What to go as..."

Skuld gave the idea some thought as well. "Are we all doing a theme?"

"I don't see why you just don't go as yourselves," Yazlyn said. "Probably the only time in your lives you can go out in this realm in your regular clothes."

"Where is the fun in that?" Belldandy asked.

"Easy for you to say," Urd said. "You _are_ going as a goddess, just not yourself, isn't that right?"

The faintest hint of red appeared at the goddess' cheeks. "That's true..."

Urd snapped her fingers and her clothes started to glow, twisting and changing until a long blue cape fell behind her back and a long rapier hung at her side. Her ears grew nearly six inches in length.

"What do you think?" she asked. "High elf. Not bad, huh?"

Skuld frowned. "It's a costume party, not EcchiCon." She pointed at Urd and whispered a quick spell. Urd's clothes changed again until she was covered head to toe in a purple outfit with a dark green cloak. "There! Sylphiel, from Slayers! Perfect!"

Urd frowned. "I'm not wearing anything that covers ninety percent of my body! It's a personal rule I have. You, on the other hand..." She snapped her fingers, and Skuld was crying in dismay at her blue-tinged fuku.

"Sailor Mercury! The original nerd girl!"

"I am not going out in public like this!" Skuld cried. She threw another spell at Urd, and the Norn was covered head to toe in a white outfit complete with a tall white and gold mask.

"Helba," Skuld declared. "Now no one can see your face." She stuck her tongue out at the Norn.

Urd growled and snapped her fingers. Skuld was suddenly wearing a sexy red dress and her hair was in long pig tails.

The elder sister crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll see your Helba and raise you a Devil Hunter Yohko."

Belldandy was only barely paying attention to the fight. Her thoughts were wandering elsewhere.

"_Race traitor! Whore to a savage child race!"_

Minuette's words to her had been coming back to her more and more as time went by. The whole business with the lady in waiting concerned her deeply, mostly because she couldn't understand it. Why had she tried to take Belldandy and not kill her with that spiritknife outright? Why her or Skuld and not Urd? And why so much hatred toward her?

Could she really have been a demon in disguise?

Or did some gods disapprove of her engagement to Keiichi so violently that they would take action to stop it?

But that didn't make sense either. If Minuette had intended to break up the engagement, the System Force would have kicked in, but it didn't until Keiichi tricked it.

"Oneesama?"

Belldandy snapped out of her thoughts and found Skuld looking at her.

"Hai?" she asked.

"I said what are you wearing?" Skuld repeated.

Belldandy smiled, and her own clothing glowed. A long flowing blue dress lined with what appeared to be sea foam hugged her body while a pearl necklace graced her neck.

"Let me guess," Urd said in amusement. "The fictional sea goddess Eriadne?"

"Never heard of her," Skuld admitted.

"What do you think?" Belldandy asked.

Urd approached her and whispered into her ear. "You know Keiichi's read that book, right?"

The goddess' eyes went wide and her face turned red. She started to fidget nervously. "I didn't think he even knew about it," she confessed. "Is that why he's going as a samurai?"

Urd sighed, not sure if Belldandy was being deliberately dense or was simply that naive. "I think he'll love it," Urd told her.

888

Keiichi walked to the door, adjusting the fake swords in his obi as he walked. The knock repeated itself by the time he got to the door. Opening it, he sighed.

"Of course," he said.

Megumi, dressed all in black, smiled beneath her ninja cowl. "Well, if we're going as Belldandy's book, I need to look the part."

"Please don't make this more difficult than it has to be," he begged.

She pushed past him. "Oh don't be such a baby," she said. "Where are the others?"

"Still getting ready, I guess," he replied.

Yazlyn, dressed in the same uniform she wore when Keiichi first met her, appeared in the hallway. "So, we doing this or what?" she asked.

Urd chose that moment to appear, and Keiichi actually blushed at the sight. He recognized the character, Izumi, from Urd's favorite anime, Winter Storm. Of course, Izumi was a sixteen year old high school girl in pigtails and didn't look anything like Urd did in a blue school uniform.

"Who are you trying to impress?" Yazlyn asked.

Urd ignored her. "Where's Skuld and Belldandy?"

"I'm over here!"

They turned and nearly fell backwards at the sight. "What the hell?!" Megumi cried.

An seven foot tall suit of futuristic green armor stood before them, the owner's face hidden by a gold visor. It held a wicked looking rifle casually in its mammoth arms.

"How long did it take you to build that?" Urd asked, her eyebrow arched.

The giant shrugged. "About twenty minutes. What do you think?"

"It's incredible," Keiichi was forced to admit.

"Keiichi san, I'm ready!"

He turned and blinked in surprise. Belldandy stood in the hallway, dressed like the description of Eriadne he read in her book. He swallowed dryly. She was beautiful.

"You look wonderful," he breathed.

She smiled. "And you look very handsome," she told him, giving him a quick peck. She looked up at Skuld's hulking form and smiled. "That's a very nice Master Chief costume, Skuld!"

"How the heck does she always know?" Urd asked.

Keiichi rubbed his temples. "Let's just go."

888

Gwydion heard the knock and opened the door to his room, nearly gasping in shock at the sight that met him.

Urd chucked a thumb toward the living room. "We're taking off. Last chance to come with."

The war god swallowed. "No... um... Thank you, but I'm going to stay in."

Urd noted his discomfiture and posed dramatically. "You like?"

"Very drafty," he noted before turning back to his room.

"Fuddy duddy," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Fine, have a good time sitting in your room watching paint dry."

She closed the door, and he was alone again. He poured himself a shot, part of his nightly ritual to take enough edge off the pain so he could fall asleep, and heard another knock. He sighed as he rose again.

"What did you forget, Urd?" he asked as he opened the door. He stepped back in surprise for a second time. "What are you doing here?"

Lind regarded him for a moment, and finally a smile peaked through her stern demeanor. "I came to see you, Sensei," she told him.

He remembered his manners and stepped aside so she could enter. The Combat Division commander entered his room with the grace of a cat and studied her surroundings. Her eyes fell on the bottle of Johnny Walker.

"You still have to drink in order to sleep," she said, it wasn't a question.

"I can forgo it, but I have to wait three days until I'm so exhausted it doesn't matter," he replied.

"But with Urd here, I would have thought..." She trailed off, feeling it wasn't any of her business. "May I have one?"

The question surprised him. His former student almost never drank. "Of course," he said, pouring one for the both of them. Handing it to her, he asked, "What can I do for you?"

She sat down and sipped at the shot rather than downing it in one go. "Minuette's attempt on Belldandy," she began. "What do you know?"

"Very little," he replied. "I wasn't here for it. Yazlyn said it was some kind of demon attack."

"It's much worse than that," she told him.

"Well," he said quietly. "I've never in my life seen you scared of something, Lind. What is this thing?"

"I never thought I'd see something like this, Sensei," she whispered. "I think Minuette was a part of something we've been seeing more and more of lately. At first, it was gods and goddesses finding themselves in places they weren't supposed to be, asking questions about security, that kind of thing." She paused and sipped again. He waited for her to continue.

"We've caught three gods trying to gain access to Yggdrasil in the past three weeks," she told him. "Some gods have just up and disappeared. It's escalated since then, gods attacking gods." She looked up at him. "It's a fifth column, Gwydion. Someone is attacking Heaven from the inside."

"Preposterous!" he huffed. "Heaven isn't some third world nation in a primitive realm. It's the core of creation. Gods and goddesses exist for the sole purpose of maintaining it."

"I know," she said. "That's why it took so long for us to recognize what this was." She stood up. "We think something has forced them to move early. Attacks have grown in the past week since the attempt on Belldandy. The Division is trying to stamp it out, but..." She shook her head. "There is nothing linking these gods together. They have no common interests, they don't work or live in the same area. It's like a hundred gods just decided to go crazy one day."

"There must be some common thread," he told her. "What you're describing is an organized movement, it must have a center."

She didn't answer immediately. "We don't know, and they won't let us take them alive."

He paused. "You didn't come all the way down here to brief me or share a drink with your old teacher," he said quietly.

She looked up at him. "I need you," she said. "I need you on my staff. I need a vice commander I can trust."

"You have some of the finest gods to ever serve Heaven," he retorted with a smile. "You don't need me and haven't since you graduated training."

"We've already identified two of these fifth columnists in Division," she said, rocked by even having to utter those words. Gwydion's eyes went wide in disbelief. "A Spartan and a Gatekeeper," she elaborated.

"Which Gatekeeper?" he demanded.

"Caratas," she told him.

"Impossible!" Gwydion cried angrily. "I've known Caratas since he was a pup on his first day of duty! The very idea that he can be anything but loyal is an insult to him, to the Five-Oh-Seventh and _me_!"

"We caught him downloading the codes to Heaven's defense grid," she told him sympathetically. "When confronted, he attacked. He killed two Valkyries."

Gwydion sat down in shock. She continued.

"The Spartan, Anansi..." She paused. "... killed Matsu. I'm very sorry. I know he was in your platoon."

The teacher shook his head. "I don't believe it."

Lind took his hand. "I need you, Sensei," she said quietly. "Heaven is starting to turn on itself. We don't dare tell the people at large. We'd have gods turning in other gods because they don't like how they're dressed."

Gwydion tried to take it all in. Finally, after several moments, he shook his head. "No," he told her. "I have a duty here, to Skuld. For whatever reason, The Almighty put me here. I have to stay until that reason is revealed."

"You could bring her along," Lind told him. "The engineers would love to have her."

He shook his head again. "No. I'm sorry."

Her head dropped. "You've always done what you thought was right," she told him. "You taught me to do the same. On this, our definitions of 'right' are simply different." She rose to her feet.

"Lind," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. That path is just no longer mine."

She smiled. "Perhaps. Or perhaps you just have to find it again."

The war valkyrie walked out of his room, leaving Gwydion alone to contemplate a world he never thought he'd ever see.

888

The party was already in full swing by the time Keiichi's group arrived at the president's house. Urd had to admit to being quite impressed. With virtually no lead time, Satoko's father managed to put on a party with more than twice as many people who showed up at Keiichi and Belldandy's engagement celebration.

As crowded as it was, it didn't take long for their group to start getting separated from one another, and soon Urd was left standing at the bar with Skuld and Yazlyn. Her costume was collecting quite a few stares, but Yazlyn's uniform, which showed off her legs, garnered the attention of one Nekomi frat boy who approached the valkyrie confidentally.

"Hi," he said. "You wanna dance?"

"No," she said. "Piss off."

He stormed off, looking both angry and dejected at the same time.

"Not all that social, are you?" Urd asked sarcastically.

"My role here is to keep your sisters safe, not cat around town with a guy with one-ten millionth my life expectancy," she answered. She said this as she scanned the crowd.

They both turned as Skuld squealed in delight. Taking a bowl from the bartender with green, armored hands, she turned back to them and bounced just a bit. "They have ice cream!" she cried in pure joy.

The older goddesses watched as Skuld stirred the chocolate treat around the bowl for a moment, savoring the texture, then lifted a spoonful up...

Only to watch it smack into her gold visor, leaving a small glob on the outside of the face mask.

"DARN IT!" she cried.

"Just take the helmet off," Yazlyn suggested.

"It doesn't come off! I had to climb into this through a hole in the back!"

Urd laughed. Skuld gave her a withering look from behind the helmet.

Yazlyn turned back to the crowd.

"What are you looking for?" Urd asked.

"Your other sister," the valkyrie replied. "She's gone."

Urd rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about her. She and Keiichi are probably sitting in a corner somewhere, looking into each other's eyes and talking about how much they 'care about' one another."

888

Keiichi's back hit the large cherry tree in the backyard, and the college student gave an "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Belldandy whispered quickly, before clamping her mouth on his again and kissing him passionately.

Wrapping his arms around her, he squeezed as they kissed and turned her so her back was to the tree.

As their lips parted for a half second, Belldandy breathed, "Keitaro!"

"Eriadne," he gasped back.

888

Yazlyn cursed her luck again for drawing this assignment. The music was loud, the alcohol plentiful and she was on duty and couldn't enjoy any of it. She scanned the crowd, looking for some hint of trouble that would justify her presence.

Then she found it.

"Stay here," she said quietly, then disappeared into the crowd.

"Where is she going?" Urd asked.

Skuld's hulking form shrugged.

Across the room from the goddesses, something took notice of them and changed course toward them. Thin wisps of smoke curled toward the ceiling from beneath its black hood. People it passed praised it for its awesome costume, but it didn't care. Dark robes swept the floor behind it.

It pushed through the final few costumed party-goers and saw one of its targets. Hissing quietly, it drew a small, dark orb from its robes. With a sudden lunge, it darted toward Skuld, the orb outstretched!

Which bounced off a force field about a foot from the goddess' costume. The thing stood there dumbfounded.

Urd turned to Skuld as she summoned a spell. "You included the force field?"

"It's part of the costume!" Skuld cried defensively.

The creature turned just in time to feel two feet of Yazlyn's rapier sink into its chest. Howling in pain, it grasped the blade and yanked it out, throwing the valkyrie across the room.

Partygoers parted as the goddess hit the ground and shot to her feet a moment later. The creature pulled back its hood, revealing a skull wreathed in blue flame. The guests applauded the impromptu show.

The skull demon drew a flaming sword.

"Surrender, foul demon of the underworld!" At least that's what the crowd expected Yazlyn to say. Instead, she settled for raising her rapier and shouting,

"DROP THE SHIT!"

Flaming ash leaked from the wound in the creature's chest. It howled and charged at the valkyrie. Yazlyn darted to one side then spun, landing the pommel of her sword on the back of the demon's head. It dropped its flaming brand as the goddess stabbed it in the back of the knee.

The crowd went wild.

Before it could recover, Yazlyn grabbed the creature by the leg and dragged it toward the door.

"Let's take this outside," she growled.

888

The samurai and the goddess jumped away from one another at the sound of the door being kicked open. Blushing furiously, they looked up to see Yazlyn dragging a body into the back yard. Dumping it unceremoniously on the ground, she stepped on its throat.

"Who sent you? What were your objectives?" she demanded.

The skull hissed up at her. Over the goddess' shoulder, it saw Urd and Skuld come into the back yard.

"Die, valkyrie slave!" it hissed derisively.

Yazlyn's face contorted in rage. Kneeling quickly down, she planted her knee on the demon's wound. It howled in agony.

"I see a portal open and treaty or no treaty you're dead!" she growled. "Now what are you doing here?!" She put more weight on the demon's fiery injury.

"Yazlyn san," Belldandy began, trying to interrupt. Before she could finish, the demon spoke again.

"Flauros," it said, sounding as if reciting by rote. "Hellrider Second Class, Third Squadron, Fourth..."

Yazlyn leaned on the wound again and smashed her fist into the side of the demon's head. "Nobody cares who you are!" she screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"

The demon looked up at her and spat a piece of ash into Yazlyn's face.

The enraged valkyrie went for the knife on her belt, but Urd grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her off the demon.

"Everyone back inside," Urd ordered. "I got this."

"The hell you do!" Yazlyn cried.

"He isn't responding to your way. It's time to try mine," Urd told her. There was no anger in her voice, just simple fact.

"Neesan is right," Belldandy said, her face stern at seeing Yazlyn's handling of the demon.

Seeing that no one was going to back her, Yazlyn dusted herself off and started for the party. "Fine," she said. "But from now on, neither of you are out of my sight," she said, pointing at Skuld and Belldandy. "Let's go."

Belldandy gave Keiichi an apologetic look and followed the valkyrie inside.

Keiichi gave the demon a sour look. "Thanks, buddy!"

Urd couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry, Keiichi. I got this."

The college student nodded. "If you need help, just call." He turned and went back inside.

Urd looked down at the demon. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.

Flauros didn't answer, but Urd could see he did.

"Here's what's going to happen," the Norn told him. "You're going to call off your attack and any buddies you have hiding nearby, and you're going to deliver a message to Hild. Tell her I want a meeting."

"A trick," the Hellrider spat.

Urd shook her head. "Simple necessity. I need to know what's happening. You're not going to tell me. Killing you or banishing you with that orb isn't going to accomplish anything. So you are going to deliver that message to Hild, and in exchange, you can go."

The demon slowly rose to its feet.

"One last thing," she said. "In case you're thinking of going back on this little deal and attacking my sisters later, keep in mind that next time I won't call our pet valkyrie off." Her voice took on a much more menacing tone. "And you'll be lucky if you _just_ die."

It hissed and nodded. Turning, it started for the back gate.

Urd took a deep breath and walked back to the house.

888

Urd didn't wait for him to call her in before opening the door and entering his room. Gwydion looked up at her from his chair, gently swaying from side to side.

"You," he said, picking the bottle up off his desk, "...look like you need a drink."

"Hit me," she said.

He poured her a shot and passed it to her. Raising his glass, he toasted. "To Lieutenant Matsu," he announced. "Delta Company, Second Battalion, Five-Oh-Seventh Winged Infantry Regiment." Urd raised her glass. "Survivor of seventy-three separate engagements with demonic forces! Winner of the Caledon Medal of Victory!" His voice turned bitter. "Stabbed in the back by his wingman." He threw his head back and took the shot in one go.

Urd sipped. She wanted to draw it out, not get plastered in a few minutes. It appeared that Gwydion was already halfway to bed, and something was bothering him.

"You get bad news?" she asked.

"Old friend of mine passed on," he said quietly. "You spend enough time in combat and it happens."

Given the toast he had just made, it didn't sound like that to Urd. She didn't press.

"What's got you upset?" he asked gruffly.

"I pissed your girlfriend off again," she said with a tired smile.

"What'd you do? Cut our cable TV?"

The Norn told him about the attack on Skuld, Yazlyn's interrogation and the deal she struck with the demon. She half expected him to explode at hearing she wanted to meet with Hild, but he only nodded along with the story.

"So you let him go?" he asked at the end.

"Yeah," she said. "Yazlyn was extremely pissed." She shook her head. "I've never seen a goddess act that way, even toward a demon."

"Yazlyn has a powerful hatred of them," Gwydion told her quietly. "She wasn't always like that."

"After what they did to you, it's no surprise, I guess," she said, sipping again at her drink.

He shook his head. "It's Gaeriel. They were close."

"How close?"

"Very close," he told her.

Something in his voice triggered something in Urd. "Wait... Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?"

"I'm telling you they were close," Gwydion said meaningfully. "And that's all."

Before Urd could press further, he changed the subject. "What do you hope to get out of Hild?" he asked.

"Minuette wasn't a demon, and she wanted Belldandy alive. This demon wanted to seal Skuld. That tells me they're not after the same thing. I want to know what the demons want and why."

Gwydion seemed ready to take another shot, but hesitantly put his glass down and pushed it away. "When do we go?" he asked.

She arched an eyebrow. "I'll go when I hear back from her. You're staying here."

"You should take Yazlyn then," he told her.

"The hell I should," Urd replied. "She's arrogant, insulting, bigoted..."

"And probably the best combat valkyrie I've ever seen," he interrupted. "Think on it."

"I'm going to talk to Hild," she said. "Not beat her over the head with a pool cue... Although, that idea appeals to me too."

Gwydion smiled. His smile lost some of its shine a moment later. "Tell me if you need help," he told her quietly. "I'm not as strong or fast as I used to be, but... I'll be there if you need me."

Touched in spite of herself, Urd smiled. "Thanks. I will."

888

Urd was about halfway to the living room when Skuld stepped in front of her, her Master Chief costume and its gold faceplate replaced with a mask of anger.

"Didn't we have a conversation this morning where I made a legal and rightful claim of dibs?" she asked.

"Oh, god," Urd groaned, pushing her way past her sister and proceeding into the next room, intent on watching TV.

Skuld followed her. "Well?" the younger goddess demanded.

"Look, Skuld, I already told you. You can have him." Turning the television on, she sat down.

The Norn settled in to watch Winter Storm, deciding that the subject was closed. "I don't have any intentions toward Gwydion, okay?" she said. "Good luck! Have fun! I hope you two have a beautiful life together!"

They heard a slight cough from behind them, almost unnoticeable. Except that goddesses have exceptional hearing.

"Keiichi?" Urd drew out. "You have something to add?"

The young man, who only emerged a moment ago after changing out of his costume, looked guilty about something.

Skuld saw it too. "What is it?" she asked, an edge of steel in her voice. "Come on, out with it."

"I think I should just go," Keiichi said. He turned to leave the room, but the doors in front of him slammed shut in his face. Turning back, he saw Skuld with her hand outstretched.

"Your control is getting much better," Urd said in honest praise.

Skuld smiled. "Thanks!" Turning back to Keiichi, she growled. "Start talking!"

"Well, it's just that..." He gave an apologetic look toward Urd. "Actually, it's not my place to say anything..."

"Keiichi, would you just spit it out, whatever it is?!" Urd demanded in annoyance.

He sighed. "Fine. When I walked in on you and Gwydion this morning, I saw your angels... kissing."

Skuld turned to Urd in shock. "You backstabbing..."

Urd laughed out loud. "You're kidding, right?!" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Keiichi, I didn't summon my angel today, so she couldn't have appeared. You were seeing things."

Keiichi blinked. "But..."

"We were working with some really crazy magical chemicals," she explained. "Some of them are hallucinogens. They probably got into the air, you took a whiff and started seeing things."

Skuld looked back and forth between them, unsure of what to believe.

Keiichi finally smiled and started to laugh. "You know, you're probably right!"

Urd stood up and started for her room, television forgotten for now.

The college boy, continued. "You have to be. I mean, I've never even heard of an angel with a broken wing before. I must have just imagined it."

Urd nearly missed a step but covered it well enough to keep walking without Skuld or Keiichi saying anything.

She took slow, deliberate steps until she was safely in her room, then sat down. Her eyes narrowed. As far as she knew, she was the only one in this house to see Broken Bow, which meant...

"Is it true?" she asked.

World of Elegance rose gracefully behind her and looked away innocently, suddenly finding the potions cabinet incredibly interesting.

Urd sighed. "You've got to be kidding me."

The angel turned and placed her hand on her hips, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Look, I agree he's a perfectly nice guy!" Urd told her. "But come on! You... I... I mean _we_ can't be serious about this. It's a lack of options! He's the only male deity for three realms."

World of Elegance crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at her.

"Is this going back to what catgirl Belldandy and Sister Peorth said?" Urd asked her. "Am I just lonely, and as a result, you're reaching out to him."

The angel arched an eyebrow. Urd sighed.

"Fine, _we're_ reaching out to him?"

Her transcendental half floated in front of her and rested a hand on her cheek.

"No, I will _not_ 'just admit it,'" she told the angel angrily. "He's all wrong for us!"

World of Elegance snorted.

"Says _me_!?" Urd told her. "Remember me? I'm the one who's supposed to make these decisions, not my subconscious angel who's obviously just a little too horny to make rational choices."

The angel looked positively insulted by this. Crossing her arms over her chest, she threw her nose into the air.

Urd rubbed her temples. Her angel looked down at her with a mix of pity and puzzlement.

"Yes, it does disturb me... at least... a little," she admitted. To be honest, she wasn't sure what to feel. Her relationship with Gwydion had always been rocky, but in a way, she liked that. It forced her to think about things she wouldn't have thought of before.

And he wasn't a bad god, really. His offer to go with her to meet Hild came back to her. The demon queen had battered him, cursed him to an eternity of pain, broken his wings so he would never fly again. He had every reason in the world to be terrified by the thought of ever seeing her again, and yet he offered to go along without even thinking about it.

She had always flirted with him, trying to draw him out. Maybe she was attracted to him on some level. Skuld certainly seemed to think she was.

Urd took a breath. "Okay, fine. I'm open to the possibility, and I won't dismiss it out of hand."

World of Elegance smiled.

"And you!" the goddess said, pointing at the angel. "From now on, you play hard to get! If Gwydion and I are attracted to each other, we'll deal with it. No more... transcendental making out in front of the mortals."

The angel made the "scout's honor" sign with her right hand.

Urd sighed. "This is so messed up."

888

Flat on her back, her cloak draped over her chest, she looked up at the lavender sky and the bits of rock that floated above them, trying not to think of her wounds. Something moved to her right, and she turned her head to the sound of footsteps, smiling warmly when she saw the dirt-stained face and blonde hair that accompanied them.

"How are you feeling?" Gaeriel asked her gently, kneeling beside her and taking her hand.

"Are you kidding?" Yazlyn asked with a tired grin. "I just do this to get out of sentry duty. How are you holding up?"

The young goddess sighed. "I think I should have listened to Sensei."

Yazlyn shook her head. "He's proud of you. You did great out there."

"Thanks," she whispered. "Do you need anything? Besides a nine-line out of here, I mean?" She smiled.

The valkyrie's face turned serious as she caught a hint of conversation from where Gwydion was standing several feet away.

"It could just be a scout," Phobos was telling him.

"And it could be Santa Claus," Gwydion growled back. "Pack up. We move in two."

Yazlyn looked up at Gaeriel. "Make sure he gets through that portal," she told her quietly. "Don't let him pull any hero crap, okay?" She smiled. "Normally, I'd pull him through myself, but I have a note from the nurse excusing me today."

Gaeriel grinned. "Don't worry. I'll look after him. You just rest, okay?" With that, the young goddess bent down and gently brushed her lips against the valkyrie's, kissing her softly.

Yazlyn's eyes popped open, and she was back in her room at the Morisato residence. Sighing, she rolled over again, not wanting to go back to sleep.

Despite her best efforts, she was getting too emotionally wrapped up in this entire ordeal. Once again, a student of Gwydion's was in danger from the demons, and Yazlyn stood between them. She couldn't afford to fail this time. She couldn't let him down like that again.

She thought about her interrogation of the demon tonight, and wondered what Gwydion would have done had he been there and saw it. What would Gaeriel have thought? She hadn't seen a demon up close since that day in the Roundtable. She thought she could still be professional. Then, when it appeared, she simply lost any will to show any mercy whatsoever.

And why should she? They were merciless creatures bent only on destruction. If she had to rough one up to complete her mission, then so be it. They would have done far worse to her or Skuld.

_Had_ done worse to Gwydion.

And then the half-breed demon bitch just went and let him go, all but giving him a cookie and a pat on the head before sending him on his way back to the demon realm.

She squeezed her pillow angrily and grit her teeth. How could Gwydion trust her? After what they had done to him, what they had done to Gaeriel, how could he be so blind to what she was?

It was becoming rather apparent to the valkyrie.

Urd was going to have to be dealt with.


	5. The Reprobate's Reply

Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess does not belong to me. I'm just having a good time with it. Thanks go out to WillZ and my wife, Sethra, for proofing this for me as well as all of you who took the time to post reviews. Thanks for all the help and support.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 5

The Reprobate's Reply

The arrow embedded itself through the bear's forehead until only the feathers were visible. A moment later, two more took out the stuffed toy's eyes.

Yazlyn lowered the bow and grinned smugly as the carnival worker gulped nervously at the valkyrie's handiwork.

"W..What size prize would you like?" he asked nervously.

She pointed at the giant stuffed panda bear on the top row. The carny was too scared to give her anything else.

"Here you go, Gwydion. A token of my eternal love," she joked, tossing the overstuffed doll at him.

The teacher barely managed to catch it. Snorting gruffly, he handed it to Skuld without a word. Skuld squeaked in joy and hugged the toy.

"I thought you said these games were hard," Yazlyn complained, turning to Keiichi, who was nocking his bow for the eleventh time in a gallant effort to win Belldandy a prize.

The college student growled. "Well, it is for someone who hasn't used a bow for the last who knows how many centuries."

He let another arrow fly and grinned madly. "I got him through the foot!" he told the carny. "That counts!"

The carny shrugged and handed him a tiny stuffed monkey. Keiichi looked at the monkey, then over at the panda before narrowing his eyes at the carny.

"That's the rule," the carnival worker told him with a shrug.

Sighing, Keiichi turned and presented the monkey to Belldandy, who squealed in happiness and hugged it.

Nekomi's Spring Carnival was in full swing, and the weather was perfect for a Saturday of rides and games, particularly after the last two weeks since Otaki and Satoko's engagement party. Keiichi thought the entire house seemed on edge. Skuld was mad at Urd, Urd was becoming more withdrawn, Gwydion was getting grumpier by the day and Keiichi had seen Urd and Yazlyn nearly come to blows more than once.

So that's when Keiichi had suggested the carnival. Belldandy supported the idea, and the two were able to get the entire group to go. Hopefully, it would get them to relax a little.

888

Urd trailed behind the others as they moved on down the row of tents toward the rides that lay at the far end of the park. The crowds were thick, and she was actually glad for it. In the sea of people, it actually provided her some privacy with her thoughts.

Her eyes fell on Gwydion as she walked. It had been two weeks since she had had a heart-to-heart with her angel on the subject, and despite her promise to keep an open mind, she had found herself avoiding him, or at the very least, not seeking him out.

Of course, he had made it easy: He'd been crankier than usual. He looked tired all the time and had even been pushing Skuld harder than he should. She wasn't sure who would burn out first - Skuld or Gwydion.

And Yazlyn hadn't helped. After Urd had let the demon go, the valkyrie had been less than pleased. After a week without hearing anything about a meeting with Hild, Yazlyn had officially declared the decision the stupidest one ever made by a goddess.

And maybe she was right, Urd conceded.

She stiffened as she felt something, a hand, brush against her backside. Growling, she turned and prepared to deal death to whatever pervert had dared touch her! Public groping was just something women had to deal with in Japan, and if so, then being beaten to just this side of death was something men were just going to have to deal with.

But there was no one behind her.

Growling, she searched the area with her eyes. The only people behind her were a grandmother and three small children. Perhaps one of them just accidentally brushed against her.

Eyes narrowing, Urd turned and decided to let the matter drop.

888

Urd led the others up the stairs to the shrine's courtyard, yawning as she went and resolving to take an afternoon bath. As she was passing a plum tree, she stiffened, sensing something one second too late as a figure stepped in front of her and wrapped its arms around her.

Growling, she shoved the figure off her, only to gasp a moment later. Once that moment of surprise was over, however, she went back to growling.

"Troubadour," she greeted stiffly, her eye twitching.

The plum tree spirit looked up at her from the ground and smiled broadly. "Urd! My darling!"

"Troubadour san!" Belldandy exclaimed before Urd could reply. "Welcome back! How was your journey?" Standing next to her, Keiichi frowned in annoyance.

"It went well, Lady Belldandy," he told her. Catching Keiichi's glance, his expression turned black. "You're still living with this mortal, I see," he told Urd.

"Like I mentioned before," Urd said, arms folded over her chest. "Who I live with isn't your business anymore. So what is it this time? You need a lock of my hair? Fingernail clippings? How about the fillings out of my teeth?"

He shot to his feet and took her hands in his. "Urd, my love," he said, lowering his voice to a suitably seductive octave. "I've come for you."

"Uh huh," she replied, not even pretending to buy it. "What about your golden dodo bird?"

"The golden nightingale is over there," he said, throwing his hand in the direction of the shed. They looked over and found the immense bird munching happily on Keiichi's motorcycle.

"MY BEEMER!" Keiichi screamed, running toward the shed. "Bad bird!" he cried, trying to pull the handlebars out of the bird's mouth. "Bad!"

"It's still quite difficult to control and won't sing for me," Troubadour sighed. "But I hope to change that soon."

The nightingale picked up a wrench in its beak and started for the college student. Keiichi started to run.

"WARK! WARK!" the bird barked as it chased him.

"KEIICHI SAN!" Belldandy cried in alarm.

Gwydion sighed. "Skuld, why don't you see if you can communicate with Thanksgiving over there and save your brother-in-law's life?"

"Yes, Sensei!" Skuld replied, rushing off after them.

"I'll go help her," Yazlyn told him, following a moment later.

Troubadour's eyes locked onto Gwydion and narrowed. "_Another_ man?" he asked suspiciously, turning to Urd's annoyed eyes. He pushed his way up to Gwydion. "You're not living under the same roof as my beloved Urd, are you?"

"My friend," Gwydion said with an annoyed smile. "I think you had better take a step back before something truly tragic happens to you."

"How dare you?!"

Urd stepped between them. "Troubadour, I don't think you've met Gwydion, God First Class, Special Operator's License."

Instead of cowing the musician, Troubadour seemed even more annoyed. "An avenging angel, huh?" he asked. He sized the teacher up and snorted.

Keiichi came stumbling up to them a moment later.

"Keiichi san! Are you all right?" Belldandy asked worriedly.

The junior held up a piece of tire with bite marks in it. "My Beemer," he sulked.

Troubadour turned back to Urd. "My love, please, it took me a long time, but I realize now how stupid I've been! I've been a...a..."

"Tool box?" Keiichi offered helpfully, but maliciously.

Instead of being annoyed, Troubadour took it. "Yes! Yes, I've been a big box of tools!" He took her hands again. "I want to make it right! Please, my darling Urd!"

"Will you shut up?" Urd demanded.

The musician was silent.

"Why should I believe you this time?" Urd asked him.

"Because I've finally realized the answer to the great secret!" he told her. "A love song means nothing without that person you love to hear it!"

"Aww," Belldandy sighed, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Rubbish," Gwydion snorted.

The musician started to seethe, but seemed bent on completing his mission. He turned back to Urd. "Please, all I ask for is a chance to prove it."

The Norn sighed. "If I agree to hear you out, do you promise not to sing?"

"Whatever you wish, my love!" he agreed immediately.

"Or bother Keiichi and Gwydion?"

His face curled up at this, but he nodded.

She sighed again. "Fine. I'll hear you out." With that, she turned and started for the house, Troubadour at her side.

"I'm going to go find my student," Gwydion huffed and turned in the opposite direction.

Troubadour put his arm around Urd, and Keiichi and Belldandy blinked as an angel rose from Gwydion's back and drew a bow, aiming at the musician's head.

Before he could fire, World of Elegance appeared above Urd and waved frantically for him to stop. The angel put her hands on her heart, then blew the other angel a kiss before fading away.

Gwydion's angel lowered his bow and disappeared.

Shocked at what they had just seen, Keiichi sighed and tossed the piece of tire on the ground. "Why can't I have normal in-laws like everyone else?!"

888

Keiichi sighed as he ended his search for the carburetor. He had hoped that the nightingale had just torn it off the bike, but a search around the shed had proven it was indeed being digested by the mythical creature at that very moment.

He told Skuld, and she added it to the list of new parts they would need.

The young goddess had volunteered to help Keiichi put his bike back together after Yazlyn had called it a challenge. The setting sun found them trying to at least finish the parts list before they ran out of light.

Gwydion stood nearby, observing them closely as if waiting for Skuld to do something. Finally, he seemed to run out of patience.

"You've wasted three hours when you could have completed that list in a few moments!" he told her gruffly. "You could have just asked the bike!"

Skuld didn't look up at him. "I know, Sensei. But this isn't a magical problem, this is a mechanical problem. And mechanical problems have their own ways of being solved just like magical ones. And I know all about solving mechanical problems."

"I see," he said. It was as close to a concession as his student was going to get. "So," he said offhandedly, trying hard to sound casual. "Who's Troubadour?"

"He's Urd's ex-boyfriend," Keiichi told him, tossing a half-chewed oil filter over his shoulder. "Guy's a total ass."

"He visited a couple of years ago," Skuld told him. "Urd said she was over him, but I don't think she is, not completely anyway." She paused and looked up. "That... um... doesn't bother you... does it?"

Her teacher snorted. "I don't waste my time worrying about plum tree spirits," he told her. "And if Urd wants to spend her time with one, that's her business."

Skuld returned to her work. "I see."

She stood up a moment later and clapped her hands off. "I think that's it."

"Good," he said. "Now ask the bike."

"But, Sensei, I already told you..."

"And I told you to ask the bike," he growled. "I couldn't care less whether Keiichi rides the bus to school! I want you to communicate with this contraption!"

Skuld's expression drooped. "Yes, Sensei," she said softly. She turned and started to establish a connection with the Beemer.

"Skuld," he interrupted before she could begin. "I apologize. You're right, of course."

She nodded, still hurt by his tone. "I'm going inside."

Keiichi offered her a sympathetic look. "Thanks, Skuld."

The girl nodded and walked off. Keiichi looked up at Gwydion.

"Look, Gwydion," he said. "I'm not a god, and I don't know about teaching, but you've been pushing her pretty hard lately. Is everything okay?"

The god rubbed his temples. "I know," he said quietly. "But she has a lot to learn and no time to learn it in. It's not fair to her, but it's the reality."

Keiichi thought on this for a moment. "She thinks the world of you, you know."

"Thinking the world of me won't protect her," he growled at the boy suddenly, regretting it a moment later. "I can't protect her," he finished quietly.

The mortal chewed on this idea for a moment. "Maybe you can't," he conceded. "But how is hating you going to help?"

Gwydion didn't answer. He stood there as Keiichi packed up his tools and went inside.

888

Troubadour plucked a final string on his harp and waited for the applause.

Half his audience, seated quietly at the kitchen table until now, clapped, and clapped fiercely. Typically, Belldandy was the only one of the three sisters who seemed to appreciate his work. Sitting next to her, Urd just looked bored.

"What do you think?" Troubadour asked.

"It was wonderful! Wasn't it, Neesan?" Belldandy prompted.

Urd shrugged. "Eh."

"Please, my darling!" the musician cried. "That was the fifth song about you I've sung, and every time you give the same answer! Surely one of them tugged at your heart... just a little?"

The love goddess' violet eyes tracked on him. "I thought you promised not to sing," she noted.

His face fell. "Do you really not trust my intentions?" he asked.

"I'm still waiting for the catch," she said.

"There's no catch, my love," he said. "I wish only to love you."

Urd stared at him. "I'm taking a bath." Rising to her feet, she started for the bath.

Troubadour watched her go, then took out a small, red journal and jotted something down.

"Troubadour san?" Belldandy asked. "What are you writing?"

The plum tree spirit had forgotten she was there. "Eh? Oh, I'm merely writing a verse about how Urd walks," he said nervously.

"Oh?" she asked.

"H...hai."

Belldandy smiled. "She walks nicely, doesn't she?"

Troubadour smiled. "Yes, yes she does."

888

Urd sighed as she pulled off her shirt. His songs _had_ been nice, but she'd never tell him that. It would only encourage him, and she didn't want him anymore.

From an intellectual standpoint, anyway. She had said the same thing during his last visit, and she had almost fallen for him all over again, hook, line and sinker. She couldn't let that happen again.

Still... the song about how her hair shined in the moonlight had been very pretty...

She finished stripping and wrapped a towel around her. As she gathered up her clothes, she saw something that made her pause. She dropped all of her clothes except her panties.

There, written in black on the back where she thought she had been groped that afternoon, were five words.

_Ferris wheel. Midnight. Come alone._

888

"Skuld chan, may I speak with you?"

The young goddess looked up from her ice cream and shrugged. "Sure." She scooped another spoonful of vanilla into her mouth and waited for the musician to speak.

Troubadour sat across from her. "I want to get back into darling Urd's good graces," he began theatrically. "But I don't know how. I need information about what she's been doing since being here on Earth. She's changed so much since when we were younger. Will you help me?"

Skuld finished the bowl and dabbed at her lips with a napkin in a perfect imitation of Belldandy. "What would you like to know?"

"What does she do all day?" he asked, taking his journal out and clicking a pen.

Skuld shrugged. "TV, mostly. She's been helping me learn about potions. Aside from that, I'm not really sure."

He scribbled rapidly. "And who does she spend her time with?" he asked.

Skuld frowned. "Well... When we're not all hanging out, she spends time with Gwydion."

Troubadour's hand gripped the pen fiercely. "And... What do they do?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Probably drink." She smiled at him. "Would you get me another bowl of ice cream?"

He smiled and scooped up the bowl in his hands. "Of course! Of course! One scoop or two?"

"Two," she replied, sitting back in her chair. "One of vanilla and one of chocolate."

He returned a moment later and offered her the treat, which she started devouring immediately.

"And um..." he began, opening his notebook again. "What do they talk about?"

She shrugged. "Who knows?"

"I know."

They looked up and found a very cross looking Gwydion standing in the doorway. He started inside, his cane clacking against the floor. "Are you done questioning my student?" he asked irritably.

Troubadour quickly shut the notebook. "I was only looking for clues to help win back my true love," he said. "Surely you know what a chore that can be?"

"Surely," Gwydion agreed sarcastically. "Though when I talked to a girl's sisters, I was a little more subtle. What was your next move? Waterboarding?"

The plum spirit's eyebrow twitched. "My apologies," he said. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"I'm sure," Gwydion told him. "You have a question about Urd, why don't you ask Urd? You have a question about _me_, you come to me."

Troubadour cleared his throat and stood up. "Of course. Excuse me." He walked quickly out of the room.

"Wow," Skuld said, watching him go. "I've never seen him back down like that before." She smiled. "I guess he's afraid of you."

The teacher snorted. "He's not afraid of me. He's got a guilty conscience. He's up to something."

Skuld thought on this for a moment.

"Skuld," Gwydion said, interrupting her thoughts. "I'm sorry about before. No matter what happens, you don't deserve to be treated that way. I'm afraid I haven't been myself lately."

She smiled warmly. "Sensei, it's okay." She looked up at him. "I know you're just trying to teach me. And maybe if I was a little..."

Before she could finish, Urd entered the room.

"I need to talk to you," she told Gwydion, interrupting Skuld in mid-sentence. The youngest goddess growled at the intrusion.

Gwydion turned to her and saw the apprehensive look on the goddess' face. He nodded once. "My room. I'll be there in two minutes."

Urd, noticing for the first time she was interrupting, nodded and left the room. Gwydion turned back to Skuld.

"We'll have to continue this later," he told her.

Dejectedly, Skuld nodded, balling her hands into fists. Urd wins again...

888

"What's the emergency?" Gwydion asked, closing his bedroom door behind him.

Urd tossed him her panties, which he caught deftly from the air.

"Getting kind of brash now, aren't we?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"This afternoon I felt someone brush against me," she told him. "I just found that written on my underwear." Gwydion read the words on her undergarment before looking up again. "I think it's from Hild," she told him.

He nodded and handed them back to her. "All right," he said quietly. "Let's go."

She shook her head. "No, I've got to go alone." She turned and paced a bit.

"Nonsense," he growled. "You're not going near that demon without back-up."

She smiled wearily. "Gwydion, if my mother says 'come alone,' you come alone. That's all there is to it. If you came along... it would cause more problems than it would solve. And you know it."

He sat down and chewed on that. Beneath it all, Gwydion was a man of common sense.

Nodding, he opened a desk drawer and drew out a small box and a glass orb the size of his fist. "If you insist on going alone, I want you to take this."

She sat down across from him as he opened the box. Taking her hand, he slipped a simple silver ring onto her finger.

Urd caught herself smiling. "No diamond?" she asked in amusement.

He cleared his throat. "It's a transrealmic beacon," he explained. "Our covert ops gods wear them. If she takes you to another plane, I can track you with this." He showed her the orb. Turning from her, he cleared his throat again. "It's just a precaution. We're not engaged or anything."

She continued smiling as she watched him. "Thank you."

He still wouldn't meet her eye. "And if you're not back by three, I'm taking Yazlyn and coming after you," he growled. "So you come back!"

"Hai," she said softly.

His eyes finally found hers. "If anyone asks, I'll say you went to the bar or something."

She rose to her feet. "Thank you, Gwydion," she told him.

888

Humming quietly, Belldandy wrapped a towel around herself and quickly examined her image in the bath's mirror. Satisfied by what she saw, she removed her jewelry, placing them in a small basket on the bathroom counter, before entering the bath for an evening soak.

She thought about asking Keiichi to join her, but he was busy trying to order parts online to repair his motorcycle. She would have to do without his backwashing tonight.

Singing quietly to herself, she didn't hear the bathroom door open...

888

Urd looked up at the mammoth wheel, happily lit up so brightly it could be seen for ten miles.

The only people still at the carnival at this time of night were couples who waited in order to avoid the crowds and be able to enjoy the rides without hordes of children getting underfoot. By day, the tea-cup ride made little kids squeal in delight. By night, it was an excuse for young lovers to cling to one another.

The ferris wheel was a Bassett, much like the Riesenrad in Vienna in that it held gondolas rather than carts. Each gondola could hold about six people, and because it was self-enclosed, people didn't have to be seated. Urd had suggested to Keiichi that he take Belldandy up in it at night, as it made for a very romantic ride.

Giving the carny a ticket, she stepped aboard and found she was the only one getting onboard this gondola. The ride started moving, and she looked out over Nekomi, watching the city lights twinkle.

"No kiss for Mommy?"

Turning slowly, she saw a shadowy figure sitting on the bench at the other side of the gondola. Silvery tresses brushed against the floor as faintly glowing eyes observed her from the darkness.

Urd folded her arms over her chest. "Mother."

Hild smiled. "I see you got my message."

"And I'm glad to see you got mine," Urd replied. "I wasn't sure Flauros would actually deliver it."

"Oh, he did," Hild assured her. "As a matter of fact, he did so with his dying breath." She smiled again. "Now, what can I do for my little Urd?"

"Why are you after Skuld?" Urd asked her point blank.

"Technically, I'm after both your sisters," Hild told her. "Skuld just happened to be the first Flauros saw."

"Why?" Urd pressed. "Why do goddesses and demons want my sisters? What did they do?"

Hild crossed her legs and leaned against the back of the bench. "Heaven is having housekeeping problems," Hild told her. "Your chosen people are fracturing. And if what we've managed to learn is true, one side or the other is going to destroy Creation."

888

Skuld sighed as she walked down the hall. She had had to pull herself away from a third bowl of ice cream, having caught herself trying to eat her way through depression.

It really wasn't fair. Time had conspired against her, that's all. She knew what she looked like as a grown-up. If Gwydion had come down a few years from now, it'd be no contest. Urd would have run crying into her room, and Gwydion would...

She sighed.

Just as she passed the bath, she heard a panicked cry from the other side of the door.

"ONEESAMA!" Skuld cried, throwing the door open. A million scenarios ran through the Norn's mind. Demons, gods...

Birds?

Belldandy was kneeling in front of the Golden Nightingale, prying its beak open and looking into the creature's mouth.

"WAAUUGHK!" the bird complained.

"Oneesama?" Skuld asked.

Belldandy gave her a positively devastated look. "It swallowed my engagement ring!"

"ACK!" Skuld cried, rushing up behind the bird and wrestling its head back so her sister could get a better look down its gullet.

The nightingale thrashed in the girls' arms, protesting its rough treatment.

"Can't you just order it to cough it up?!" Skuld asked, tightening her grip.

Belldandy shook her head quickly. "I already tried that! It's not like any creature I've ever linked to before!"

The bird reared up on its haunches and fell backward onto the younger goddess. Skuld cried out as the creature landed on her.

"WARK! WARK!" It flapped its wings in panic.

Skuld growled and wrestled with the bird until it was pinned beneath her.

"That's it!" she cried. "Make some stuffing! Invite some relatives! Thanksgiving comes in April this year!"

"Skuld! Don't hurt it!" Belldandy begged.

The young goddess took the bird's head in her hands and stared directly into its eye. The dark yellow ring of the creature's iris locked onto hers.

Skuld felt something pass between them, some recognition. Gathering all the strength of her mind, she mentally screamed at its brain.

_PUKE!_

The bird started thrashing, hiccuping violently. Skuld squeaked, but before she could move away, she was covered in bird vomit.

A small gold ring clinked onto the floor and rolled up to Belldandy. The goddess cried out in delight and snatched it up.

The nightingale, apparently suffering no ill effects, stood up, ruffled its feathers, and went off to eat parts of Keiichi's room.

Her lap covered in puke, Skuld shook her head, shell shocked. "This... is _awful!_" she cried.

Belldandy hugged her sister happily. "Skuld! You did it! Thank you so much!"

"I'm going to throw up," Skuld said sickly.

888

"What do you mean?" Urd demanded. "Fracturing? Fracturing how?"

"What am I, Four-One-One?" Hild demanded. "I was hoping you could tell me something! My sources haven't got much more than very broad ideas."

Urd started pacing.

"We know, for instance, there is a faction that is trying to take your sisters... alive." Hild crossed her legs again. "And whatever that means for them, you can bet it's bad for us. While I don't exactly like the idea of Heaven having sole control of the World Tree, some unstable power having it is even worse. Control the Norns, you control the World Tree. So I tried to put your sisters out of their reach."

"I'm a Norn too, you know," Urd told her. "Are you going to banish me?"

Hild smiled. "Fortunately for us both, little Urd, they don't seem to want anything to do with you." She turned the conversation back to the matter at hand. "There also seems to be a smaller group that fears both the first group and Heaven's authority figures."

"So who are they?" Urd asked. "They have to have a leader, fighters, something!"

Hild shrugged. "Like I said, my sources are limited. Why don't you ask your almighty father?"

"Because I doubt he'd tell me," Urd admitted quietly. She turned back to her mother. "Leave my sisters alone... please."

"I'm just going to banish them for a few centuries until we get this figured out," Hild told her in a mock-consoling tone. "After that, if I'm in the mood and if your father is willing to trade something good for them, I'll let them go."

Urd gave her a withering look.

"Unless," Hild trailed off. "You're willing to trade something."

"Such as?" Urd asked, her arms over her chest.

Hild clapped her hands together. "Well, as I just mentioned, I have very little information on what this threat is. If you were willing to... share... whatever you come up with during your little investigation, I might be persuaded to believe your sisters' lives no longer threaten my own."

"You want me to spy for you?" Urd asked, incredulous.

"No," Hild said quickly. "I know you're not going to just drop this little quest you're on to protect your sisters. You're going to find out something. When you do, you're going to tell someone. After that, you tell me. Besides," she said. "You may find my help much more useful than Heaven's."

Urd turned away from her and thought on this for several moments. "If I find something that affects you and _doesn't_ put Heaven at risk... I'll pass it along."

Hild clapped again. "Glorious!"

Urd didn't move.

"Something else?" Hild asked.

The Norn bit her lip, unsure of why she was even bringing this up. "You cursed a god named Gwydion a few years ago," she said.

"Gwydion!" Hild said, happily recognizing the name. "That's a name I haven't heard in awhile! How _is_ dear Gwydion? Still in excruciating pain every moment of every day, I hope!"

Urd bit back anger. "I would like you to please remove the curse," she said. "Please."

Hild laughed, a horrible sound filled with derision and spite. "Oh, I don't think so, little Urd. I caught that little bastard and his Gatekeepers trying to ambush _my_ demons. He killed some of my best Hellriders. For that, he doesn't get to die. I sentenced him to life."

The goddess had known it was a futile request, but she had to try.

"If it's so important to you, why don't you just heal him yourself?" Hild asked tauntingly.

Urd blinked and turned to her. "What?"

The demon queen smiled. "My touch can lift his curse, and you _are_ my offspring." She took a step toward her daughter and grinned. "You can _temporarily_ lift his curse... if you're willing to pay the price."

"What do you mean?"

Hild's face turned cruel. "Everything has a price, little Urd," she hissed. "Everything."

The tone chilled Urd to her bones. She knew whatever it was, the "price" would be high.

Something creeped out of the shadows behind the demon queen, and Hild turned to it as the amorphous form whispered in her ear. Her cruel gaze whipped back to Urd.

"I told you to come alone!" she snapped.

"I did!" Urd shot back.

"Then why is it my elite guards just caught a god wandering around down below?" she demanded.

_Gwydion!_ Urd thought, panicking. The god must have gotten worried and came after her.

"Bring him!" Hild ordered the shadow.

After a few tense moments of waiting, the shadow reformed on the wall and belched out its prisoner. Urd blinked in shock.

"_TROUBADOUR?!"_ she cried.

"So you know this god," Hild said, grinning down at the musician as he rolled onto his back and gasped at the sight of her. She knelt next to him. "Do you know who I am?"

Troubadour nodded fearfully. He searched the gondola and found Urd standing behind him. "Urd! Darling! I..."

"Shut up, Troubadour!" Urd hissed. "We're in trouble."

"So," Hild asked casually. "What brings you to my illustrious presence?"

The plum tree spirit paused. Finally, he seemed to find his voice. "I... I saw Urd leave the house... I was worried, so I went after her."

Urd found herself touched in spite of the situation. She vowed to think of the musician more kindly... assuming they survived the next few minutes...

Even as she found herself smiling at her ex-boyfriend, something slipped out of his pocket and hit the floor. He gasped and reached out for it, but Hild's elite guard was faster, the shadow impaling the red book with its dark spear, nearly taking off one of the plum spirit's fingers.

It raised the book, offering it to his queen. Hild took it casually and started flipping the pages. "What's this?" she asked.

Troubadour gulped. "It's my song book!" he told her. "I... I've been writing songs about Urd!"

"Indeed," Hild said, leafing through the pages. "Let's share, shall we?"

Urd turned red in embarrassment. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. Embarrassing, yes, but not...

She broke off the thought when she caught Troubadour's glance. He wasn't looking up at Hild anymore. He was looking at her...

In total fear.

"Here's a romantic one," Hild said, pacing as she read aloud. "Six-forty-five, Urd goes to the bath. Seven-ten, questioned Urd's sister. Claims that Urd has spent a lot of time with Gwydion, mentioned earlier. Seven-thirty, Urd goes to Gwydion's room, emerges several minutes later. Leaves house..." She looked down at Troubadour. "Now, I'm not a music critic, but those lyrics just plain suck out loud."

Urd felt ice clutch at her heart, not suddenly, but gradually, as if she were slowly freezing to death as the horrible truth became more and more plain.

She looked down at him. "You... You were _spying_ on me?" she whispered.

Troubadour was shaking fearfully.

Hild flipped a few more pages. "More than that, it seems." She smiled. "There's a complete inventory of every magical item in your room."

Urd stepped forward and snatched the book from her mother, flipping through it angrily, shaking her head at each page. "You... I..." She looked up at him again, eyes wide. "You said you..."

Hild stepped forward and knelt next to him again. "Well?" she asked. "Spit it out. You're not spying for your own sake. Who put you up to it? The Almighty?"

Troubadour looked away, unwilling to face either of them.

"We can do this the amusing way, if you prefer," Hild offered sweetly.

The musician turned white. "The Grigori," he said quickly.

Hild turned to her daughter. "Now why would the Watchers turn their attention to you?"

Urd shook her head. The Grigori were Heaven's internal security organization, charged with rooting out demonic spies. Why would they want her?

"Why would you do this?" she asked instead.

Troubadour opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Hild grinned evilly. "Let me teach you something, little Urd," she said, gesturing to her daughter's ex-boyfriend. "Whenever someone is forced to do something, they are always quick to say so. Likewise, when they truly believe they are right, they admit it openly." She turned her gaze back down to Troubadour. "It's only when their services are _bought_ that they feel too ashamed to say so."

"Troubadour?" she asked.

"You weren't supposed to know," he told her. "I was just supposed to watch you for a few days, take notes on the people you were seeing..."

"And?" Hild prompted.

He swallowed. "And the Grigori would give me access to archive files that would show me how to control the Golden Nightingale."

Urd fought desperately to hold back tears. She didn't dare cry now. If she did, it would be a sign of weakness in front of her mother, and Hild had a very low opinion of the weak.

If her mother noticed her distress, she made no sign. Instead, she smiled at the musician again. "Well, that's a very interesting story. But there's a problem. You see, you admitted everything way too fast, which means I can't be sure it's the truth." Her grin dropped the temperature in the room five degrees. "Which means you and I have to have an _extended _chat..."

Troubadour moaned softly in fear.

Hild stood up and motioned to her guard. "Take him."

"No."

She turned and found Urd staring down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said no," Urd repeated. "He's committed no crime against you. You can't take him."

Hild's mouth quirked up in amusement. "He's a Grigori agent. I have to be sure."

Urd, pain and anger lighting her eyes, looked her mother in the eye. "You can't have him."

The queen looked to Urd and Troubadour in turn, and Urd's stomach again sank as she saw her mother light up.

"I know! We'll make it a game!" Hild declared, retaking her seat. "This will be fun!" Clasping her hands in front of her, she faced Urd. "Contestant Number One, are you ready?"

Urd didn't answer. This wasn't going to be good.

"Here are your choices for the lighting round!" Hild declared theatrically. "You can vouch for this young spy here and both leave this gondola right now free and clear..."

Urd waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Or..." Hild dragged the suspense out. "You can leave Troubadour here in my care for... coercive questioning... and in exchange for you not making a fuss about it... I will give you the counterspell for your friend Gwydion's curse." Hild clapped. "How's that for 'let's make a deal?'"

Urd couldn't believe the cruelty in her mother's game. It was either save the life of a man who just betrayed her for his own selfish pursuits or return home that night with a cure for a god she'd come to trust as a friend.

Hild turned her head to her elite guard. "What do you think, Sengheli?"

"Goddesses are weak by nature," the guard hissed. "She will flee with this mongrel now."

"You don't know my little Urd," Hild said. "I think she has more vindictiveness than that."

Troubadour looked back and forth between the two women. "Urd!" he begged.

Urd closed her eyes. "I'll vouch for him," she said quietly.

Hild's face fell. "Well, Sengheli, I suppose you were right and I was wrong." She turned to him. "You should probably leave while I come to terms with that, for your own safety."

The guard bowed and vanished back into the shadows.

The queen shook her head at her daughter. "You're too much like them," she said in disappointment. "Remember our conversation."

Without another word, the arch-demon sank through the gondola floor and disappeared. A moment later, the ferris wheel started moving again.

888

She didn't say one word to him as they walked back to the Morisato residence. She could have taken a TV straight there or even rode the train, but the last thing she wanted at that moment was to actually get home.

Troubadour followed silently behind her as she cut through a wooded part of a park about a quarter mile from the shrine. She hadn't even looked at him. He mostly followed because he wasn't sure what else to do. He couldn't help but feel somehow responsible...

He trotted up to her until he was alongside the goddess and put on a shaky smile. "Heck of a night, huh?" he asked.

The musician didn't actually see the fist that slammed into his nose. All he knew was that one moment he was standing, and the next he was on the ground.

"YOU BASTARD!" Urd screamed, hitting him again and again as tears poured down her face. "You backstabbing, low-life BASTARD!"

She reached into the sky to call down a depth charge on the long-eared spy, but stopped, her hand outstretched to Heaven, sobs wracking her chest. The Norn lowered her hand and cried into it.

_What good would it do?_ she asked herself. Blasting him was just a cheap gag, and she knew it wouldn't make her feel any better. A man who swore up and down that he loved her had betrayed her for the sake of a few scrolls. How the hell was she supposed to reply to that?

Troubadour gazed up at her for a moment but found he couldn't bear the sight. He slowly rose to his feet. "Maybe I should..."

"You get your damn bird and get out!" she cried. "Don't ever darken my thoughts again! Ever!" She kept her eyes covered.

Troubadour turned to leave.

"And you tell the Grigori that if they have something to ask me, they know where to find me!" she yelled at his back.

888

Urd stayed in the park for two hours, not wanting to even risk seeing that man again, especially now, with tears and snot running down her face.

She couldn't stop crying.

The goddess had tried to collect herself, to halt the tears, but she couldn't. Two hours later, she was still sniffling as she climbed the stairs to the shrine.

She felt fresh tears well up when she saw who was waiting for her.

Gwydion leaned against the gate and smiled softly. "You're late," he said quietly.

Swallowing, she quickly wiped her eyes and nose with her shirt sleeve, at least trying to look nonchalant.

"Yeah, well... I stopped at a party on the way back... and... some girl thought I was getting too close to her boyfriend and she maced me..."

"Troubadour left," he told her. "He just said you were all right, took his bird and left."

She didn't say anything.

"I guess... you two had words?"

Urd sniffled again. "Something like that," she said, moving to walk past him. She paused as she was about to step past. "How do you do it?" she asked him, turning to face him. He gave her a puzzled look, and she elaborated. "You have every excuse in the world to just curl up into a ball somewhere and hurt, and yet here you are... waiting for me."

"Ah," he said simply, taking a breath. "I could have done that," he whispered. "That's what Hild wanted me to do. To serve as an example that she couldn't be beaten." He bit his lip for a moment before going on. "By enduring it, by carrying on, I serve as an example that she can be."

She wiped her eyes again as a fresh sob shook her. Collapsing forward, she wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

Gwydion felt a gasp escape him and cut off the rest as fire coursed up and down his body. He clenched his hand so hard his nails drew blood. He had to fight the overwhelming urge to toss the woman off him, but fight it he did. She needed him, and he wasn't going to let Hild's curse prevent him from helping her.

Wincing, he slowly wrapped his agonized arms around her and squeezed back as she continued to cry.


	6. A Summer Midnight

Disclaimer and foreword: AMG doesn't belong to me. "Think of Me" is by Andrew Lloyd Weber. More thanks to WillZ and my smoking hot wife, Sethra, for prereading this.

A note on the Division: Some readers have asked about how the Combat Division is arranged and what the differences are between valkyries and other gods. Here's the basic gist of how I'm setting it up. (Others, I'm sure, have their own ideas and this is not canon.) The Division is broken up into four regiments, The Spartans, The Valkyries, The Avenging Angels (Double-As) and the Gatekeepers. If someone is referred to as a Valkyrie, that means they belong to that particular regiment. When referred to as a valkyrie, small "v," that says that they are simply a female warrior goddess. Yazlyn is a valkyrie who is assigned to the Gatekeeper regiment, and as a male warrior god, Gwydion was an avenging angel also assigned to the Gatekeepers.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 6

A Summer Midnight

"At least the AC works in this one," Skuld sighed as she grabbed a seat on the nearly empty train car heading back to Nekomi. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she took a breath and relaxed. Walking from auto parts store to auto parts store wasn't exactly her idea of a fun morning, but it got them out of the house.

Keiichi set down several plastic bags as the doors closed and the train started to move. Taking a seat next to Belldandy, he smiled. "At least we got them all. Just a couple hours of installing the new parts and no more walking to school for us!"

"I kind of liked walking to school," Belldandy confessed. "Especially now that it's getting warmer."

"In another month it'll be much hotter," Keiichi reminded her. "You'll be glad to have the Beemer up and running again once the thermostat starts breaking into the nineties."

Skuld heard a short intake of breath from beside her as the train lurched. Standing next to her, Gwydion winced and held the bar tightly.

"Sensei, please sit down," she begged. "There's plenty of room."

The teacher relented and sat next to his student. His face was drawn and gaunt, and dark circles ringed his eyes. "Thank you," he breathed.

Skuld chewed the inside of her cheek, wondering if her teacher was sick or just having a rough day. The weatherman had predicted rain this evening, a summer rain storm. She assumed that must be it.

Yazlyn took his place at the bar as Urd sat at the other end of the car. Skuld turned her attention back to Keiichi, intent on asking a question about the repairs, but found it useless. The two of them were busy staring at one another again.

"How do they always do that?" she asked no one in particular.

To her surprise, it was Yazlyn who answered her. Leaning close, the valkyrie whispered to her. "You'll understand when it happens to you," she told the younger goddess. "You can see a great many things in a lover's eyes - the future, the past, children not yet born. If you're not careful, you can lose yourself in them."

Skuld blinked in surprise. She had never heard the hard-core soldier say anything like that before. "You must feel that way about your boyfriend," she said.

Yazlyn looked down at her in surprise before offering a smile flavored with sadness. "No. Not for a long time."

Urd heard the valkyrie's comments and suddenly blinked, realizing her eyes had been resting on her sister's teacher sitting across from her. She quickly turned her head and looked out the window, watching Chiiba City race by.

She had made a mistake the week before, seeking comfort from Gwydion after Troubadour had left following his betrayal. The goddess had cried into the teacher's robes, hugging him tightly and taking comfort from him for a full five minutes before she remembered his curse and realized what she must be doing to him. It took him several moments to recover before he could even stand again, but he hadn't complained.

It only made her feel worse. She could have cured him. It was right there in her mother's hands for the taking, and instead she chose to save the god who had betrayed her. She didn't even have the courage or the decency to tell him what she had done.

So wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the teacher's reflection in the glass gazing back at her.

888

"Don't let him through! Don't let him through!" the voice crackled from the blue stone sitting on the desk before her. Her eyes watched the polished piece of marble, seeing the faces behind each voice as it rang out through the room.

"Two-Five! Two-Five! Check left!"

"Get a damn medic in here!"

A high pitched humming noise, indicative of a soul saber, emerged from the stone, followed by several screams.

"GET THAT SON OF A BITCH!"

The retort of several power blasts exploded throughout the room.

"He's down! He's down! Arc Light this is Kilo One-One! Repeat Tango is down! Need immediate extraction for three critical casualties!"

The man at the other end of the table tapped the stone, and the recording stopped. The god, arrayed in silver robes, looked up at her. "They knew."

Before Lind could reply, the goddess standing to her left erupted, her contralto voice laced with malice within her accent. "Of course they bloody knew!" Shasiel said angrily. "It's the third Division operation to be compromised! Their recruiting standards have become so lax over the last three centuries that the demons could have infiltrated them at every level!" The dark-skinned woman trained her violet eyes on Lind. "How many sides are you fighting on, mate?!"

Lind ignored the Grigori chief and turned her gaze to the other god. "The mission was accomplished despite the breach of operational security. Until we know who or what these things are, we have to assume they've made extensive preparations before moving. They could be anyone."

"Michael," Shasiel interrupted, waiting for the archangel to recognize her before continuing. "The Division is out of its league." Lind visibly bristled at this. "I must once again insist that you implement Warlock Green under Grigori administration."

Michael's gaze turned angry. "I will not sanction an action where the best possible outcome is a civil war!"

"Respectfully," the Grigori began again, "The Division..."

"The Combat Division was conceived to fight a demonic war outside Heaven's gates!" Lind suddenly interrupted, tiring of hearing her unit demeaned. "Not to fight our own people hiding in the shadows! That's why we have Grigori! Instead of finding ways to marginalize the Division, perhaps you should work on finding the common threads to the insurrection so we can stamp it out for good!"

"The Division is compromised!" Shasiel shot back. "I submit that every valkyrie and avenging angel be screened by my Grigori before..."

"Screened for what?!" Lind shot back in fury. "You have no idea what this is or how to detect it!"

"Loyalty to Heaven can be determined by an interrogation..."

"I will not submit _one_ member of my Division to your 'interrogators' without a _damn_ good reason!"

"Enough!" Michael roared, ending the argument. The two goddesses turned back to him. "I need to know who these people are, what binds them together, what their goal is. I can't do that with the two of you squabbling." He sat down in his throne. "Now, here is what is going to happen. The two of you are going to start working together, and when you come back here, you're not going to tell me what they're going to do to us, you're going to tell me what we're going to do to _them_! Understand?"

The two women nodded, and the archangel dismissed them. Shasiel stormed out, collecting her aide as she went. Lind watched her go.

"Lind," Michael said quietly. "We're not going to be able to hide this forever. I want these... whoever they are... destroyed. You hunt them down, and you kill them."

"Does that come from The Almighty?" Lind asked, surprised by the order.

"The Almighty has chosen to not involve himself in this," Michael told her, his own disbelief evident on his face. "I'm telling you, on my authority, that the gloves are coming off."

"The gentlemen's war is over."

888

Skuld quietly turned the corner and raised the MB-42 assault rifle to a firing position. Standing about twenty meters away, the banana-headed creature looked from side to side, but took no notice of her.

Grinning, the goddess sighted carefully and...

KA-BAM!

The creature fell to the ground, the armor piercing round having gone straight through its head.

Skuld blinked and growled.

"Hey!" she cried. "That was my kill!"

Sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her, Belldandy smiled. "I didn't see your name on it!"

Skuld lifted her controller and turned back to the split-screen display on the TV, Keiichi's game console humming uncertainly on the floor next to it.

"Did I win?" Belldandy asked innocently. Skuld growled again. "I shot the alien thing, right? That means I win, right?"

"This sucks! You've gotten the sniper rifle every single time!"

Belldandy smiled beautifully, her expression a canvas holding a painting that just screamed, "Yep!"

"Ugh," Skuld remarked, turning her attention back to the screen. Before they could play another round, however, Urd entered the room.

"Hey," she said uneasily. "Um... Belldandy, can I talk to you?"

"Of course," the goddess replied, rising from the floor.

Belldandy led her down the hall, pausing briefly at Urd's door, but the elder goddess stopped her.

"No," she said. "I don't feel safe talking in there."

Belldandy was puzzled, but didn't say anything, instead leading her sister to the room she shared with Keiichi. Once they were both inside, the middle Norn shut the door and trailed her finger along the door frame, putting a locking ward on it and erected a soundproof bubble around them.

"Neesan, are you all right?" Belldandy asked in frank concern.

Urd blinked at her. "I... Come on! I don't look that messed up, do I?!"

Belldandy offered her a sympathetic look. "You do look extremely troubled."

The elder sister sighed and sat down. "I'm in trouble, Belldandy."

888

"Come in!"

Skuld slid the door open and found her teacher writing in a small journal. Looking up, he nodded. "Skuld, sit down. What can I do for you?"

The young goddess took the seat that Urd usually occupied. "Sensei, something's bothering me."

"Go on."

"Well... Last week, when Troubadour was here, I did something I don't think I should have been able to do..."

"Such as?"

"Well, the golden dodo whatever-it-is swallowed Oneesama's engagement ring, and I was helping her get it out, and I was able to form a link with it and order it to throw up."

Gwydion thought on this for a moment. "And this troubles you?"

"Well, it's that Oneesama said she wasn't able to," Skuld explained. "She said the nightingale's mind was so different, that it was such an old deity that she couldn't do it. What do you think?"

The teacher considered her for a moment, then asked, "You've created an artificial intelligence here, didn't you?"

"You mean Banpei kun?" Skuld asked. "Yeah, not long after I got here. But that was an accident. His program evolved on its own."

"Did it?" he asked. He leaned forward. "Or did you give it something?"

"What do you mean?" Skuld asked.

"I mean if you really did create an evolving intelligence, really did link with an ancient deity, than this could be indicative of a wonderful gift, Skuld," he told her. "We will test this idea and we'll find out for sure. Okay?"

She nodded. "Thank you, Sensei."

888

Urd had to admit she felt better. She told Belldandy about Troubadour, her meeting with Hild, the Grigori and the plum tree spirit's manipulation of her. Her gaze stayed rooted to the floor as she let the poisoned air out of the balloon that was her last week. She didn't want to see pity in Belldandy's eyes. She knew she had to let it out, and that pity would be the price. Finally, when she was ready to bear it, she looked up at her sister.

But there was no pity.

A dark aura seemed to radiate from the middle Norn, her expression one of beautiful rage. Her hands were clenched at her side.

"Um... Belldandy?" Urd asked cautiously.

Belldandy shook in barely contained anger. Quietly, she began to whisper just loud enough for Urd to hear. "I will slaughter them like a wolf among lambs," she breathed.

"Woah! Hold on there, Tamberlain!"

"For someone to use another's love like that is... is so reprehensible that..." Belldandy shook her head as if trying to expel the very idea from her head. "... that... that I can't even find the proper words for it!"

Urd stood up and took her sister's arms in her hands. "Belldandy, I'm not looking for an avenger! I just..." She sighed. "I just needed to talk to someone."

The aura began to dissipate, and the anger was replaced by the pity Urd had been dreading. Without a word, Belldandy hugged her.

"It'll be okay, Neesan."

Urd sighed again and sat down. "And now I have a new problem."

Belldandy sat down across from her. "What do you mean?"

"I told you that story so I could tell you this one," Urd explained. She sighed. "Okay, there's no good way to say this. There's a slight, minuscule chance that I... have feelings for Gwydion."

"Oh, Neesan," Belldandy said sympathetically. "Of course you do."

Urd's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I see. You've seen it all along, have you?"

Belldandy smiled and squeezed her hand. "I think everyone's seen it but the two of you."

Urd's head flopped forward in exasperation. "Everyone, huh?"

"Well, your angels did make a scene once or twice while the two of you weren't looking," Belldandy told her.

The elder goddess rubbed her temples. "Once or twice, huh?"

Belldandy smiled softly. "Hai... Well... Keiichi saw them a couple of weeks ago..."

"Yeah, I heard about that..."

"... and then Gwydion's angel tried to harm Troubadour..."

Urd blinked, then smiled a bit. "Did he?"

Her smile lost some of its shine as Belldandy continued.

"Then when you were napping, I saw World of Elegance cutting little hearts out of construction paper..." Urd rubbed her temples again. "But the point is it doesn't matter because now you know."

"I don't know what to do," Urd told her.

"Of course you do," Belldandy told her. "You're a goddess of love."

"I'm having trust issues, Belldandy," Urd told her. "How do I know he..." She trailed off. "First there was Troubadour, then Corus, then Troubadour again..."

"Troubadour will burn in Hell for all eternity for what he's done to you!" Belldandy snapped in an uncharacteristic moment of rage. "And Corus was a demon, and an unstable one at that." She squeezed her sister's hand again. "Trust requires faith, not only in the other person, but in yourself."

"Maybe that's the problem," Urd whispered. "Maybe I've stopped trusting myself."

At Belldandy's questioning look, she continued.

"When you love someone, you give them a great deal of power," Urd explained. "I don't think I can trust anyone with that power right now, not even myself."

The middle Norn smiled softly. "Neesan, you are capable of so much love. It would be a shame not to give it to someone worthy of you."

"And you think Gwydion is worthy?" Urd asked seriously.

"I think you should judge a person by their own actions, not the actions of the people who have come before."

Urd didn't reply.

Belldandy smiled. "In the end, love decides for us, Neesan. Your decision is what to do about it."

888

It wasn't fifteen minutes after letting her heart bleed in front of her sister, that Gwydion and Skuld found her in the hallway.

"Ah, Urd!" he said tiredly. "I was wondering if you would help us."

She took a breath as conflicted feelings roiled within her - her now undeniable attraction fighting against her guilt. She forced a smile and nodded.

"What can I do?" she asked.

"We're conducting an experiment," he told her. "I want Skuld to give mental magic a try."

"That's pretty advanced, isn't it?" Urd asked.

Skuld seemed irritated at the insinuation that she wasn't ready for anything.

"She's quite right, Skuld," Gwydion told her, sensing her anger. "What we are about to attempt usually isn't done for at least two more years."

The young goddess nodded. "Okay. So what do I do?"

"I would like Urd to act as the subject," Gwydion told her as he led them both to the living room. "Normally, you wouldn't be able to enter the mind of another goddess. They have to either let you enter or you have to so overpower them that the effort would do them and you considerable harm. Urd is going to let you in. I'd ask Keiichi, except mortal minds are much more frail. Understand?"

Skuld nodded as they sat down.

"Now, don't be disappointed if this doesn't work," he warned. "This is very advanced material."

She nodded again.

"Urd, are you ready?"

The older goddess took a breath and closed her eyes. "Ready."

His voice lowered, becoming a soothing stream of sound rather scientific words. "Now, Skuld, focus on your sister and connect with her like you would any other creature or object."

Urd could feel her sister's will touch her mind and was surprised at how quickly it was happening.

"Do you feel it?" Gwydion asked.

"Yes, Sensei," Skuld replied. "What do I do now?"

Gwydion wasn't sure. "Have her do something... Pick up the remote... something simple like that..."

"There's no remote..."

"Just do something, Skuld," Gwydion growled.

"Hai," she replied. Taking a breath, she gave Urd's mind an order.

The older goddess' eyes snapped open, and her mouth began to move.

"_Think of me... Think of me fondly... when we've said goodbye! Remember me... once in a while - please promise me you'll try! When you find... that once again... you long to take your heart back and be free... If you ever find a moment... spare a thought for me!"_

Gwydion looked on in shock as Urd sang. Finally, Urd shook her head and fell back on her hands. "Woah!" she cried.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Skuld cried. "It was the first thing that popped into my head! Honest!"

"Skuld," Gwydion breathed. "That's extraordinary."

"What? Embarrassing Urd? I do that every day!"

"How could she do that?" Urd asked in astonishment. "With virtually no training at all?" She looked to Gwydion for some sort of answer.

The instructor nodded. "Skuld, you have an astonishing gift," he told her. "Most gods and goddesses can manipulate thoughts, but it takes a great deal of training and concentration. This explains why you were able to command the nightingale, and I think it might explain how Banpei kun's AI evolved so swiftly and so completely."

"It does?" Skuld asked.

"Hold on a second, Gwydion," Urd interrupted. "You're not going where I think you are..."

"What do you mean?" Skuld asked.

"Skuld, I think you unconsciously used this power with Banpei kun, in essence granting him intelligence."

"Meaning...?"

"He means, Skuld, that you used your mind to create life," Urd interjected.

"And the only god who can do that is The Almighty."

888

Keiichi opened the throttle all the way up and laughed in delight as the Beemer shot forward, accelerating down the road twice as fast as it used to. He had been neglecting his bike over the past year, putting the money he normally would have into other, "more important," things. Finally forced to replace parts by the golden nightingale, he went all out. He thought about sending Troubadour a thank you note since his bike was performing better than it had in years.

As he thought this, a drop of water hit the center of his visor. Glancing up, he was hit by a few more. It turned out the Nekomi Channel 47 weatherman wasn't wrong after all.

The rain intensified as he hung a right and started back for the temple.

_At least it's not cold_, he thought. True enough, the rain was warm, even as the sun was starting to go down.

By the time he pulled into the overhang at the temple, the storm was in full swing, dumping a steady bucket of rain on the temple. A bit of thunder rumbled overhead, but there was no lightning.

As he dismounted and prepared to run inside, Keiichi paused, hearing something to his right, away from the temple residence. Pulling his hood up, he started toward the sound, entering the stand of trees that stood off near the temple.

The sound became clearer as he got closer to the source. He smiled, kicking himself for not realizing what it was sooner. In a small, grassy clearing, his fiancé stood before a large stump, her head tilted up as she sang. Green buds emerged from cracks in the stump, growing at the sound of the goddess' voice.

He stood away, not wanting to interrupt but transfixed by her voice. Instead, he gazed at her, wondering for the millionth time what he had done to deserve a woman like that. Her hair was damp and her wet dress clung to her body, revealing everything while showing nothing.

She raised her arms as her song ended, then paused briefly before turning to him as is she had always known he was there. The goddess smiled.

"Welcome home, Keiichi san," she greeted."Isn't it wonderful? A warm, cleansing rain is just what this city needed."

Instead of the usual "tadaima," he said something else. "How do you do that?" he asked her.

"Eh?" she asked, confused by the question.

He went on. "You're dripping wet, standing in the rain... and you're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." It was no empty compliment. The amazement was evident in his voice.

The blush suffused her neck and cheeks. "Keiichi san," she said, embarrassed by the compliment. She stepped toward him and leaned forward. "That's sweet of you to say." She brushed her lips against his, intent on giving him a quick peck, but his lips caught hers and that quick peck became something much more passionate.

She closed her eyes and reveled in the act, the sound of the rain beating a steady tattoo in the background. Her hands rose and circled him, and somewhere inside her, a clock struck midnight.

"Keiichi... it's time," she breathed as their lips parted.

"Time?" he asked quietly.

"Hai," she replied, holding him tighter and kissing him again.

Keiichi was by no means a swift man in many respects, but this one didn't take much more than the sense The Almighty gave a mule, especially as he felt his fiance's hands move under his jacket.

He pulled his head away suddenly. "Um... Here? Now?"

"Hai!" she responded, moving toward him again.

"In the rain?"

"Hai!"

Her fingers brushed through his wet hair as she kissed him again.

"Um... Wouldn't it be better if we went back to our room?" he asked. "I mean..."

She pulled her head away and looked into his eyes with a matter-of-fact look on her face. "Keiichi, our house is full of people and our walls are made of paper."

He paused as he thought on this. "Good point," he conceded, then kissed her fiercely. His fiancé whimpered softly, and her knees went weak as his fingers found the sensitive spot between her shoulder blades.

Collapsing against him, they both fell into the wet grass under the trees.

888

Urd yawned as she turned the page on her latest NewType magazine. The article on Winter Storm wasn't nearly as in depth as she had hoped. It was mostly the director celebrating his own ego.

She looked up and checked the clock on the wall. It was nearly seven and Keiichi wasn't back yet. Belldandy, she knew, was singing to the trees again. She loved this kind of weather.

Turning another page, she suddenly yelped and shot to her feet!

Down the hall, she heard another surprised cry and a crash that could only be Skuld falling out of a chair in her lab. Urd quickly reopened the magazine and tried to look nonchalant as the youngest goddess raced into the room.

"Did you feel that?!" Skuld cried.

"Feel what?" Urd replied, turning the page again without reading anything.

"That!" Skuld repeated, failing to be any more specific.

Urd arched an eyebrow.

"I mean..." Skuld paused, trying to put it into words. "It was like... It was like just suddenly being really really happy!"

"And that bothers you?" Urd asked skeptically.

"Well... No, but... It's just weird!"

"So... You want something to make you depressed?" Urd asked with an amused smile. "I have potions for that."

Skuld started backing away. "No... No, that's okay! I'm... just going to go back to my lab now."

The younger sister darted away before Urd could make good on her threat. Once she was gone, the elder Norn sat down and sighed, smiling warmly. She had been around the block enough to know what that feeling was. Somewhere, Belldandy was feeling so much joy, it had backflowed through the link she shares with her sisters.

"Keiichi, you sly dog," she said quietly.

The euphoric feeling would last for a little while, so she decided to take a bottle of wine into the bath and soak for a bit.

Finding a bottle in the kitchen, she hummed to herself as she started down the hall toward the bath. A sound stopped her just as she was passing Gwydion's room.

Turning to the door, she heard it again through the thin wall, an unmistakeable gasp of pain. With the rain falling outside, she knew he would probably be more than a little sloshed by now. She decided to check on him real quick before taking her bath.

She knocked twice and opened the door, not expecting an answer. To her surprise, she found Gwydion sitting at his desk, resting his head on the wooden desktop. He was breathing hard. His eyes found her and he struggled to sit up.

"What is it?" he asked.

Urd looked at him in surprise. "I thought you'd be passed out by now," she quipped. Looking around, however, she failed to find a bottle anywhere nearby. Her expression turned to one of concern. "Are you out?" she asked, stepping forward and resting the bottle of wine on the desk.

"No," he said quietly, shaking his head. "I don't want it. I gave it up."

The statement floored the goddess. "Gwydion, have you seen yourself?" she asked. "You're the only man in the world with a good reason to drink. Come on," she said, offering the wine to him again.

"I said no, dammit!" he growled, looking up at her. His face softened a moment later. "They're after my student," he told her quietly. "They could come back any time, and when they do, I will not be drenched beyond the ability to protect her."

"Yeah, because you're so much more capable like this, right?" she asked, regretting it the second she said it. She was spared having to apologize or justify the remark as he didn't answer.

The silence stretched for several moments. "Don't worry about me," he finally told her. "I'll be fine."

She bit her lip and sat down next to him. "Gwydion... Did the healers in Heaven tell you that... well.. That an heir of Hild could relieve the curse?"

The goddess expected shock or surprise. Instead, he didn't even look up. "Yes," he told her. "The curse is unique to her vibrations, or some other such nonsense. That's why they can't heal it."

Urd blinked, shocked into silence. "Why didn't you say something?" she asked.

He raised his head, his eyes meeting her own. "Because it's _my_ curse," he told her. "My punishment. I have no right to ask anyone to share in it."

"Is that the price?" Urd asked. "I would have to take on the pain?"

"They don't know," he said in exasperation. "It could have any of a hundred side effects. No one knows for sure except Hild."

She swallowed and mentally steeled herself. "I'm going to try," she told him.

"You'll do no such thing," he retorted.

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Stop me."

He regarded her for several moments. "It's not your burden to bear," he tried weakly.

She could see the conflict in his eyes, his desperate desire to be rid of the curse, if only for a few seconds, fighting with his desire to protect others from its power.

"We're not going to know if this is even possible if we don't try," she told him. "Now relax. I've never tried anything like this before."

Beaten, he nodded and sat back in his chair. Leaning forward, she unfastened the buttons on his tunic and pushed the shirt back over his shoulders, wincing at the sight that met her. The entire left side of his chest was crisscrossed with angry, red scars. An indentation she could only describe as a crater two inches across marred his upper torso where a demonic energy blast had torn through him.

She swallowed, and he saw the look on her face.

"Don't worry, I wasn't pretty to start with," he said painfully.

Tentatively, afraid of hurting him further, she reached out and gently rested her hands on his chest. The flesh was hot to the touch, almost feverish. Closing her eyes, she stretched out with her will and probed the area. She gasped at what she felt.

Fire. He was on fire. At least that's what his body was telling him. She could see the red wisps of the curse rising from his body, burning his body and soul.

She took a breath and bent her will to the fire, touching it with the tendrils of her soul. The fire lost some of its rage and began to dissipate slowly until finally only the smouldering embers remained.

It took much longer than she thought, and she had to concentrate her power evenly over the effected areas lest a spot she had just smothered reignite. After several minutes, however, she was done.

She leaned back in her chair and took several deep breaths, waiting for the price of meddling in her mother's curse to manifest. To her surprise, however, she felt nothing. No pain, no discomfort.

Her eyes opened and found a shocked god sitting across from her. Gwydion touched his chest, looking down at himself in surprise.

"It's gone," he whispered. "It's... it's gone." He couldn't believe the words he was speaking. He shot to his feet, but his leg gave out under him, and he collapsed back into the chair. "Well... except for the leg," he conceded.

Urd smiled from her chair.

He laughed and covered his mouth with his hand, tears starting to form in his eyes. She liked the sound, having never heard him laugh beyond a rough bark of derision before.

The god looked up at her. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly.

She smiled again. "I'm fine." Her expression turned to concern. "It's only temporary," she told him. "I don't know how long it will last..."

"It doesn't matter," he told her, smiling and trying to choke back tears. He leaned forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "You've given me the first moments of true peace I've known in a very long time. How... how do I ever repay you for that?"

She was silent as she stared into his eyes. Maybe it was the euphoria lingering from her sister's joy or the happiness of seeing his curse relent its assault on his spirit. Looking back, she would never really know for sure. All she knew was one moment she was looking at him and the next she had planted her lips firmly on his.

Gwydion gave a muffled breath in surprise as the goddess put everything she had into that kiss, letting the feelings she had stamped down the last several months explode freely within her.

He tried to stand, but she wouldn't let go and the two fell back onto the floor. Finally, she released him, and he looked up at her as she unbuttoned her blouse.

"Urd," he said quietly. "You've been through a lot the last few weeks, maybe..."

"Gwydion," she said, staring down at him in mild annoyance. "Would you just shut up and make love to me?"

He looked up at her as his own unrequited feelings for her came rushing to the fore. Leaning up, he kissed her softly and wrapped his arms around her. She felt his fingers massage her back between her shoulder blades and sighed.

"See?" she asked. "Was that so hard?"

888

Keiichi woke to the sound of singing and the feeling of raindrops on his head. Carefully tilting his head to the left, he found Belldandy lying next to him, whispering a song into his ear. He closed his eyes and let the song roll through him, a relaxing, soothing melody.

He felt the goddess' foot rub against his leg and her breath in his ear. He was exhausted. The college student didn't know if it was because Belldandy was a goddess or he was just out of shape, but he felt like he had just run a marathon... Granted, an incredibly awesome marathon, but still an intense experience.

She must have felt him stir because the melody stopped and her breath was in his ear again. "More?" she asked.

"I'm going to need vitamins," he breathed. "Epinephrine... something..."

"Then... I was okay?" she asked, her voice uncertain.

The question threw him for a moment. "Okay?" he asked. "I'm about dead..."

"Gomen," she whispered. "I'll try harder next ti..."

"What? No!" he whispered back, taking her hand and putting it on his chest. She felt his heart racing beneath his ribs. "You were... Well... I mean, just feel what you did to me."

Giggling in relief, she leaned in and kissed him. As they parted, Keiichi cleared his throat.

"Um... Was I... you know..."

"You made my heart sing, my Keiichi," she whispered, caressing his face. Before she could say more, her body suddenly went stiff and she gasped quietly.

"Belldandy? Are you okay?"

She sighed and smiled knowingly. "Hai. I think my sister may have just made an important decision, that's all."

Puzzled, Keiichi didn't reply.

888

"Something about my wings you find fascinating?"

His eyes caught hers as he ran his fingers over her black left wing. The war god hadn't noticed she was awake, but now she was looking at him through hooded eyes.

"I've never seen black wings on someone who wasn't trying to kill me," he shared quietly. "I didn't expect them to be so... soft."

She smiled and stretched on the futon, readjusting her body so her wings could stretch out more comfortably. Gwydion saw the wing move away from him as she sat up and turned to him, leaning down to kiss him.

"How long had it been?" she asked in amusement.

Not really wanting to answer, Gwydion arched an eyebrow. "Am I that out of practice?"

"Mmm, let's just say the enthusiasm was appreciated," she said. "How do you feel?"

"I feel wonderful," he told her, wrapping his arm around her. "You?"

Her lip quirked up in a half smile as she sat up again. "I think I know what the price was," she told him. At his questioning look, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Nothing.

"Your powers?" he asked astonished.

She shrugged. "I'm hoping it's only temporary," she told him, running a hand over his chest. "If not, I'm really screwed."

"We shouldn't have done this," he said.

"Don't you dare," she warned him. "It's temporary... and I _needed_ to touch you." She looked down at him and smiled evilly. "And I didn't hear any complaints earlier. Don't you see? I finally got to grant your wish."

He smiled back. "So where does this leave us?"

"I guess that depends on you," she said, trying to hide uncertainty under nonchalance.

The instructor cocked his head. "I don't go halfway," he told her. "Either we're lovers or we're not. I don't do 'friends with benefits.'"

"Are you implying I do?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I'm telling you that I'm taking this seriously," he assured her. He reached up and caressed her cheek. She took his hand and pressed her face against it, relishing the touch.

"What time is it?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Almost seven a.m.," he told her, rising from the futon. Urd gave his body a long look.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to take a walk," he told her as he dressed. "Will you come with me?"

She smiled up at him. "I think I'd like that." The goddess rose to her feet, 'accidentally' offering him a long look at her lithe form, and folded her wings behind her. "Maybe Belldandy is making..." Before she could finish, she felt a wave of power and awareness rush into her body. She turned to him quickly. "Gwydion!"

The warning was a moment too late. He was already screaming and writhing on the floor as the curse reasserted itself at full force. Black spots exploded in front of his eyes as fire roared throughout his body. His head felt like it was being struck with a warhammer.

"WHERE IS IT!?" he heard in his mind. He wasn't sure if his eyes were opened or closed, but suddenly he was somewhere else, somewhere he knew.

Hild stood over him. "I know you have one in the Roundtable! Where is it?!" She raised her hand and lightning shot up and down his body. "Enough!" she screamed, turning to someone he couldn't see. "Cut his wings off!"

He didn't reply, but Hild must have seen something in his face because her expression became one of amusement. "Oh? You object to losing your wings?" Her face turned wrathful again. "Then tell me what I want to know and _perhaps you'll keep them awhile longer!_" She knelt down and grabbed him bodily by the front of his tunic. "Where is the Combat Division base in the Roundtable!?" She struck him across the face. "WHERE?!"

"Gwydion! Gwydion! Can you hear me?!"

His eyes opened, and he gulped lungfuls of air. Urd's worried face looked back at him, and he struggled in her arms to get away, mistaking her for Hild.

"Gwydion! It's okay! It's me!" she told him, stroking his face with her fingers. "It's okay."

The teacher's breathing started to slow as his mind adjusted to the pain again. It was awful, worse than just enduring it, he now had to live with the fresh reminder of what it felt like to be without pain. He choked back a sob and started to climb to his feet. Urd moved to help him, taking his left arm, but that only inflamed the curse. At his painful cry, she stepped back, allowing him to work through it on his own as she watched in impotent concern.

He rested against the dresser. "Well," he gasped out. "I guess now we know how long 'temporary' is."

She nodded sadly. For all the power it took to lift the curse, Gwydion had only been pain free for about twelve hours.

"I'll heal you again," she said, stepping toward him.

"No," he said, raising a hand to stop her. "We still don't understand how it works. Let's just... take it slow for now."

She nodded. "Where were you?" she asked quietly.

He was still breathing deeply, recovering. "What?"

"You were somewhere else, Gwydion," she told him. "You kept crying, 'I don't know! I don't know!'"

He concentrated, trying to remember what he saw. "Hild was... questioning... me," he said. Urd tensed at the statement, having nearly seen one of her interrogations before her eyes. "She was asking something about..." He closed his eyes and rested his head in his hand. "I don't know."

She stepped forward again and very carefully wrapped her arms around his neck, putting great effort into not touching the parts of his body affected by the curse.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I thought it would be longer."

He mustered a smile from somewhere. "I had twelve hours of peace and I was able to spend it with you," he told her. "It could have been one hour, and I would have been happy."

She gave him a gentle kiss. "Still want to take that walk?"

"Yeah," he told her. "Yeah, I do."


	7. A Devoutly Thankful Lover

Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess is not mine. This fic is just for fun. The poem, "His Masterpiece" was written by Harry Morant.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 7

A Devoutly Thankful Lover

"Did you enjoy your walk?" Belldandy asked brightly as Urd entered the kitchen. The middle Norn turned away and hummed loudly to herself as she prepared breakfast.

"I did," Urd replied, grinning evilly. She knew she was about to have the most fun she could have in a vertical position - embarrassing her sister. Skuld may have been too young to realize what that sudden sense of euphoria was last night, but as a full-fledged goddess of love, Urd knew, in general terms anyway, what her sister had done.

"So," she said innocently. "You and K..."

"Keiichi and I made love!" Belldandy cried happily as she turned back to her sister and dropped the bowl and whisk she had been holding so she could clap in glee.

Urd's face fell. "This would be a lot more fun for me if you tried to hide it... or fidgeted or blushed or something..."

Belldandy turned back to the counter and continued working, the bowl and whisk on the floor apparently forgotten as she worked on some new dish.

The elder sister arched an eyebrow at her behavior. "So?" she asked. "How was it?"

Belldandy dropped another pan and held her hands over her heart, sighing wistfully as the metal utensil clanged against the floor.

"Um... Maybe I should cook breakfast this morning," Urd offered.

Belldandy turned to her and smiled. "And you?"

Suddenly, the tables were turned. "What do you mean?" Urd asked, scratching the back of her head.

"I know what I felt last night," Belldandy told her, either taking great joy in her sister's happiness or in finally getting the opportunity to make her older sister blush. "You resolved your trust issue, ne?"

Urd was surprised to feel a slight heat in her cheeks as her sister confronted her. "You... could say that," she relented.

Belldandy leapt at her and wrapped her arms around her. "Neesan! I'm so happy for you!" She laughed happily and pulled away a moment later, her hands on her sister's arms. "Do you know what this means? A double wedding!" Belldandy gasped at the implications of this idea. "We should call Moder and ask her to make you a dress! There's still time to order invitations! And..."

"Just a second! Just a second!" Urd cried, holding her hands up. "We're not getting married," she said.

Belldandy blinked in honest surprise. "You're not?"

"No."

"Oh," she said.

"That's not a problem, is it?" Urd asked, surprised at her sister's reaction.

Belldandy smiled. "No, I was just hoping for a moment that we could be married together. I just assumed..."

Urd smiled. "I see. It took you three years to get Keiichi to put a ring on your finger, but I only get twelve hours? How is that fair?"

Her sister laughed. "I'm not sure I can hold the wedding off another three years," she said.

"Yeah, well, don't wait up," Urd said, walking to the cabinet.

"I'm just glad you're happy," Belldandy told her. "It's been a long time since I've seen a smile like that one on your face."

Urd paused. "Yeah," she whispered with a smile.

"What will you do now?" Belldandy asked her.

The Norn thought for a moment. "I don't know, and I don't care."

888

"So what's Belldandy doing for your birthday?" Megumi asked with a wink as the two walked up the steps to the main quad at Nekomi Tech.

Keiichi blushed a bit, thinking of what he'd _like_ Belldandy to do for him. It had been three days since that night in the rain, and Belldandy had been on him every night since. He had been so exhausted by it that he'd taken the day off yesterday to rest while his fiancé went to class. It was a good thing he had stocked up on condoms, an even better thing that he had one in his wallet during the rain storm, 'just in case.' Otherwise, Belldandy would have met him at the door by now with "wonderful news" and a credit card bill for five bassinets.

He finally found a suitable answer and replied. "Something simple, like last year, I think," he said. "Dinner with the family, maybe a new sweater."

"Uh huh," Megumi told him with a leer. Before she could say more, three cheerleaders passed them, giving Keiichi appreciative looks.

"Hey there, Morisato kun!" one called out as they passed.

"Um... hi," he replied.

"Who are they?" Megumi asked.

"I have no idea," Keiichi told her with a shrug.

"Looking good, stud!" another girl called out with a wink as they passed the admin office.

"Er... thanks?"

Megumi shook her head. "How does this work?" she asked. "Since when do girls here call you 'stud?'"

"I don't know!" he cried.

She stopped him and gave him a mock incredulous look. "Someone's sleeping around!" she cried.

"I am not!"

"Morisato!"

They turned and found several members of the Nekomi Tech baseball team facing him. As one, the group fell to their knees before him and prostrated themselves.

"YOU ARE OUR GOD!" they cried.

"WHAT?!" Keiichi and Megumi cried as one.

"A GOD!"

"I don't know what's going on," Megumi said. "But I'm getting the hell out of here!" She turned and rushed toward her class, leaving Keiichi there to face his new found acolytes alone.

888

Megumi shook her head and dumped her books on her desk. In the desk next to her, Belldandy smiled. Thermodynamics II was the only class the two shared together, and they had banded together as lab partners early on.

"Hey, Belldandy," she greeted with a breath. "You wouldn't believe the mess your fiancé is in right now." She sat down. "For some reason..."

"Keiichi and I made love!" Belldandy cried suddenly.

Megumi screamed as the mental image tore itself through her cerebellum like one of those crab-things in Wrath of Khan. "God!" she cried. "Why would you... I mean... Who needs to kno..." She finally collected herself. "I could have gone my entire life without hearing that!"

Belldandy didn't seem put off by the statement. "But it's such a happy event!" she told her. "Keiichi and I have finally taken the final step! Spiritually, emotionally and now physically, we are united forever! Looking back, I don't understand why I was so afraid to do it. It's the most natural thing for two lovers to do!"

Megumi blinked as something clicked. "Wait a sec... Are you telling everyone this?"

"Hai!"

"Oh my god..." Megumi gasped, mortified for her brother, but at the same time dying to laugh.

"That's what he said!"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Belldandy... I don't know how things work in He... er... back home... But here that kind of thing is a very intimate, very _private_ act."

"You mean... I'm not supposed to share it?"

"No! God, no!" Megumi told her. "Look, some things about a relationship you share with others, and some things you just never ever mention. Especially to an in-law!" A very disturbing thought struck her. "Oh, god, you didn't call Mom and Dad, did you!?"

Belldandy shook her head. "I don't have their number."

Megumi sighed in relief. Leaning back in her desk, she thought about what effect this might have on her brother. Given what she had seen already, his stock could only go up. Perhaps it wasn't so bad. Still...

"Look, just don't talk about it to anyone else, all right?" she asked. "That's something you and Kei chan are supposed to have to yourselves. And for god's sakes, never tell me again."

Belldandy looked a little disappointed. "Hai."

Eager to get off this mind-breaking train wreck of a topic, Megumi started again. "So, what are we going to do for Kei chan's birthday? It's in three days."

The goddess put her finger to her lip in thought. "I'd like to do something very special for him. Any ideas?"

"Party," Megumi said immediately. "Surprise party. On the outside, he'll hate it, but deep inside he'll love it."

"You really think so?"

Megumi nodded. "Definitely."

888

"ROCKS GO BYE!"

A stone the size of a man's head twenty feet away exploded into a cloud of dust. Gwydion arched an eyebrow and nodded appreciatively. "Yazlyn been teaching you again?"

Skuld's eyes lit up with pride as she answered. "Nope! I _invented_ it!"

"Did you now?" her teacher asked.

"Yes, Sensei!" Skuld replied happily. "Yazlyn gave me a book on defensive spells since it's part of my lessons now. It's a variation on the Reverse Pressure Dynamic spell."

Gwydion nodded. "A Badger's Slash," he corrected her. "No one calls them RPDs."

"Hai! It also works with 'Branch Go Bye,' and 'Keiichi's Textbook Go Bye!'"

He regarded her carefully for a moment. A few months ago she didn't believe she could even do magic, now she was creating new battle spells. Sometimes her progress frightened him.

"Skuld, this is fine work," he told her, resting on his cane. "But battle spells are very dangerous, even for the experienced. I want you to refrain from working with them unless Yazlyn or myself are there with you."

The goddess' expression drooped. "Yes, Sensei."

He smiled at her. "Skuld, don't mistake me. This is very good work. But I don't want you to rush ahead so fast that you miss some of the details. Take your time. Learn."

She nodded.

The instructor placed a hand on her back and guided her along the path that led to the shrine part of the temple grounds. "You remind me a great deal of another student I once had," he told her. "She was in a rush too. And I had to constantly tell her that the next subject would still be there later, and that the current topic was what she needed to concentrate on. It took some time, but she eventually saw things my way."

"I guess," Skuld said. "So where is she now?"

"You've met Lind, haven't you?" he asked. "She was very much like you. Always thought she had something to prove."

Skuld smiled. "I really remind you of Lind?"

"Somewhat," he told her. "You also remind me a lot of another student. Also of your sister."

"I remind you of Oneesama?!" she asked happily. "Really?"

"Actually," he said with a sly grin. "You remind me a great deal of Urd."

"Oh," Skuld said, her expression falling a bit. "I guess that's okay."

He smiled and continued to walk. "We're going to make another trip to Heaven soon," he told her. "To visit the library and... somewhere else," he said mysteriously.

"Somewhere else?" she asked. "Where? Where?Where?Where?!" she pressed.

"Have you ever heard of a god named Paradis?"

Skuld's eyes went wide. Gwydion was surprised. He didn't think she'd be that happy about it.

"The shipwright?" she breathed.

"So you have heard of him?"

"Of course! He builds Heaven's great ships! They're works of art!" she gushed. "Beautiful and functional with not one inch of wasted space or material!"

"Would you like to meet him?" he asked.

"Can I!?"

He smiled. "Skuld, once he hears what I have to tell him about you, trust me, he'll want very much to meet _you_."

888

Urd exhaled slowly as she twisted into the next position on the floor mat next to the koi pond. She arched her back and slowly rose to a sitting position as she caught Gwydion and her sister approaching out of the corner of her eye. She smiled at his approach and entered the next position.

Skuld said goodbye to her teacher and went into the house while Gwydion strolled up to Urd.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, puzzled by her movements.

"Yoga," she told him.

"Yoga?"

"Mmm hmm," she replied, bending in a way that Gwydion found both unnatural and appealing at the same time. "Given our new situation, I have new, shall we say, domestic responsibilities... that require me to stay limber..."

The teacher was rendered speechless.

Urd paused in her movements and smiled. "And that's what I was looking for. I finally got you to blush."

"What god wouldn't?" he asked seriously.

She continued her movements. "I want to try healing you again tonight," she told him quietly. "I know we're taking this slow, just in case, but if we were going any slower we'd be going backwards in time."

"I've asked the healers who first tended to me to send down their notes," he told her. "I'd feel better knowing for sure you could continue to do this safely... before we tried again."

"If losing my powers for a short time is all it takes, then it's a small enough price," she told him.

"_If_ is the big word there," he told her. He lowered his voice to whisper. "If the price for my peace were to change... put you at risk... in _any_ way... then it's too dearly bought."

She contorted again, arching her back and craning her head to look up at the sky. "I don't care much for stubborness," she said. "Even stubborn nobility."

"Not even your own?" he replied with a tight smile.

"Don't try to flatter me," she said with a smile of her own. "Love goddesses simply require a little more attention from their lovers than other goddesses, and I'm not about to give _that_ up." She gave him a meaningful look. "Or now that you and I have finally stopped fighting it, are we supposed to live chaste lives forever?"

"Heaven forbid," he agreed.

"So do I get a kiss or what?" she asked, coming to a sitting position.

He stepped up to her and, unable to lean down all the way without pain, kissed her forehead.

Urd's lip quirked up. "You're starting to remind me of Keiichi."

Gwydion only smiled smugly. "You say it as if it were a bad thing."

"No," she said softly. "Not in the least."

"Good," he said and turned to go.

"Nothing else to say?" she asked his back.

He paused as if thinking, then turned and stepped back to her, reaching down and taking her chin in his fingers.

"_Never before was daughter of Eve endow'd with a face so fair, - There be none of God's holy angels with a beauty half so rare - as thine, nor dreamer has ever dreamed the loveliness you wear. - There's a gleam in your golden tress, Lieb, a light in your melting eye! - There is witchery in your smile_, _Lieb, and a magic in your sigh."_

Urd looked up at him and swallowed, unsure what to say.

He smiled. "Only that I'll see you tonight."

888

"Okay, I've got good news and I've got bad news," Megumi said, walking up to Keiichi in the quad.

"You know why I'm being treated like Mick Jagger?" he asked.

"Yeah, which leads me to the bad news," Megumi replied. "Apparently, Belldandy is so proud of the fact that you finally made a move on her after three years, she's been shouting about it from the mountaintops to anyone who will listen."

"EEEEEHHHH!?" he cried.

Megumi waved at him frantically. "Now, the good news is that she's really talking you up! I've heard several girls around school use the phrase, 'crusader of love.' So... It's all good, right?"

Keiichi was pale.

"Look, don't be mad at her, okay?" Megumi warned. "She doesn't understand how that kind of thing works down here. To her, it's simply a natural thing and other people would be happy for you."

"Actually, I'm not mad," he said.

"You're not?"

Keiichi blinked in puzzlement. "No... It's weird, but I'm not." He scratched his head. "I've never really been popular before. Now I have all the cute members of the Home Ec Club coming up to me and asking if I'll taste their cookies."

Megumi arched an eyebrow. "And they were actually holding plates of cookies when they said this, right?" she asked. "It wasn't some kind of metaphor?"

He gave her an exasperated look.

"Just checking!"

Keiichi sighed and started for his next class, Megumi falling into step beside him as a girl wolf-whistled from across the quad. As they continued to walk, Keiichi saw a familiar pair of glasses coming toward them from the other direction.

"You think Hasegawa's heard about it yet?" Megumi asked.

"Oi! Hasegawa!" Keiichi called out to her.

"Drop dead and go to Hell!" the Auto Club member shouted back before changing course and storming off away from them.

"Yeah, I think it's a fair bet," Keiichi said with a sigh. "At least it can't get any worse..."

"MORISATO!" he heard a deep voice bellow from his right.

"You have _got_ to stop saying things like that," Megumi told him sympathetically.

Otaki and Tamiya pushed there way up to him. "We heard the news," Tamiya told him. "Congratulations on a job well done."

"Thanks," Keiichi sighed.

"We've received twenty new applications for membership in the past day," Otaki told him excitedly. "All women!"

"And you _will_ be at the next meeting to welcome them to our prestigious organization," Tamiya told him.

"Do you want me to sign autographs too?" Keiichi asked sarcastically.

"Only if they bring something to sign. We're not giving out pictures or anything," Tamiya told him.

Keiichi rubbed his temples. "Why would they have any interest in me?" he asked them. "Even if the stuff Belldandy is saying is true... and it is," he clarified. "...I'm engaged. It's not like one of them is ever going to take me away from Belldandy."

Megumi sighed. "Kei chan, you're forgetting the law of attractive association."

"The who did what to the where now?" he asked.

"Attractive people tend to hang out with other attractive people," Megumi explained. "You don't see hot cheerleaders hanging out with ugly girls. These poor, misguided girls who signed up for the Auto Club are operating under the assumption that because you're a crusader of love, these two retards are too."

"Senpai," Keiichi said in disappointment. "You're engaged."

"I just want to glimpse the dream, Morisato kun!" Otaki told him.

"And an infusion of attractive girls certainly can't hurt our recruitment rates," Tamiya told him sagely.

"When are you doing this?" Keiichi asked in defeat.

"Friday," Tamiya rumbled.

"Wait, that's Kei chan's birthday," Megumi told them.

"The Auto Club asks a lot of its smoking hot sex symbols!" Tamiya roared. "Sometimes that means missing out on cake and ice cream!"

"Fine, I'll be there," Keiichi told them.

888

"Keiichi is out buying Skuld ice cream, so now is our chance," Belldandy told the group assembled around the kitchen table. "Keiichi's birthday is Friday, not much time to plan a surprise party, but I know we can do it if we pull together."

Megumi raised her hand. "Um, Belldandy, you're forgetting the Auto Club has already booked Keiichi for their big recruiting event."

The Norn smiled. "That won't be a problem! We're going to combine the two events and have the party at the clubhouse!"

"You think Tweedle Den Chan and Tweedle Dai Chan will go for it?" Urd asked.

"I'm sure they will," Belldandy assured them. "So, to make this easier, everyone has an assignment." She pulled out a notebook and cutely bit the end of her pencil. "Mmm... Neesan, you're on refreshments."

"That's like putting Skuld in charge of getting explosives," Yazlyn pointed out.

Urd rolled her eyes. "I'm on it."

"Megumi san, please make sure all of Keiichi's friends are in on the surprise."

"That's like three phone calls," Megumi replied. "But sure."

"Skuld chan, your job is very important," Belldandy told her. "You have to make sure that Keiichi stays away from the house and the clubhouse on Friday while we're preparing. Can you do that?"

An evil gleam shined in the young goddess' eye. "No problem."

Belldandy smiled. "Excellent."

888

Urd tossed her hair and adjusted her hat before smiling wickedly and opening Gwydion's door. "Gwydion san!" she sang out. "It's time for Nurse Urd to administer your medication and give you an examination!" Then the goddess, arrayed in a full, but tight-fitting nurse's outfit, paused in surprise.

Yazlyn was sitting across from Gwydion at his desk, an utterly shocked expression on her face.

Urd's face fell in self-reproach. "I should probably remember to knock, huh?"

"I doubt you get many complaints in an outfit like that," Yazlyn told her, still in a state of shock. Sitting across from her, Gwydion was blushing furiously.

The valkyrie looked from Urd to Gwydion and back again before putting it together. "Oh," she said, just the barest hint of disgust in her voice. "Well, it looks like _I'm_ the one interrupting." She rose to her feet and started past Urd. "Excuse me. I know how much the Old Man needs his vitamins."

Yazlyn shut the door behind her, leaving the two of them alone. Urd sighed, mortified. "That could have gone better," she admitted. "What was _she_ doing here?"

"With no news coming from Heaven, she was wondering if the danger had passed and asked what I thought," he told her, trying to keep his eyes above her neckline.

"So she's leaving?" she asked with a glimmer of hope.

"I asked her to stay, actually," he confessed. At Urd's annoyed expression, he continued. "I know you don't like her, and she doesn't like you, but believe me, we're safer with her here than we would be without her."

Urd crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide her embarrassment with anger. "We don't need her here."

"After what I've heard from you and Lind," he said quietly. "I firmly believe we do."

"I see," Urd said, unconvinced.

Wincing, the teacher rose to his feet. "If it were up to me, I'd have a squad of Gatekeepers camped out on your lawn," he told her. "But it's not up to me, and I have to do what I can."

"I know," Urd sighed finally. "You probably lost some points there with her finding out you're involved with a demon," she said in disgust.

He reached out and caressed her hair, and she smiled despite herself. "Yazlyn's a big girl," he said. "If she has a problem with who I associate with, she'll come to me, and I'll set her straight."

"Now what's with the outfit?" he asked.

She posed and grinned. "You like?"

888

"What are you watching?"

Skuld, sitting in front of the TV with the remote in her hand, looked up at Urd and gave her a noncommital expression. "It's called 'Go Go Happy Panda.' It's this anime about a guy who turns into a Giant Tibetan Mountain Panda and eats crime."

"Don't you mean, 'fights' crime?" her sister asked.

"No, I mean he eats criminals," Skuld said with a touch of disgust. "When you sit down and think about it, it's actually really disturbing."

Urd blinked and looked at the clock as she suddenly remembered. "Hey, it's Friday! You're supposed to be making sure Keiichi is out of the house today!"

"Don't worry, that's done," Skuld told her.

"Or the Auto Clubhouse," Urd reminded her.

"I said it's done! Jeez!" Skuld said. "Don't worry, I handled it!"

Urd shrugged. "Okay, if you say you handled it, you handled it." She turned and walked out of the room.

Skuld flipped to another channel where the local news was playing.

"And now for our crime report," the news woman began. "Local police say they believe they've made a major breakthrough in the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Murder case." A picture appeared at the corner of the screen. "Police received a tip that this man, local college student Keiichi Morisato, is the infamous 'Hippie Ripper,' wanted for the murder of seven hippies living in a van in 1982. When asked how a college student could have committed a crime that took place several years before he was born, police only said, 'the evidence is very damning.'"

"Get a hair cut, hippie!" Skuld laughed at the screen. "Well! That should keep Keiichi out of the way until it's time for the party! What's next?"

888

"Thanks for picking me up, Skuld," Keiichi told her in heartfelt thanks as the two stepped out of the police station. It was nearly six o'clock, almost time for the surprise party, so Skuld had hacked back into the police computers and erased the evidence she planted about Keiichi.

"I still can't believe they thought I was the Hippie Ripper," he said, shaking his head. "I hope Belldandy isn't too worried."

"I don't think she knew," Skuld told him. "Besides, it was just an honest mistake that your DNA ended up in their computer database."

Keiichi's eyes narrowed. "Uh huh."

Smiling happily, Skuld led him to the train station.

888

"Now ladies, I know you're all eager to get this meeting started," Tamiya announced in front of the group of twenty-three new female members of the Auto Club. "But this is going to be a double event. One of our star racers... Keiichi Morisato..."

He waited for the giggling and chatter to stop before continuing.

"...is celebrating his birthday today, and his fiancé, Belldandy, has asked us to help stage a surprise party for him here tonight, and you're all invited."

There was a good bit of applause, and Tamiya turned the floor over to Belldandy.

"Skuld should be here with him any minute, so when he arrives, everyone yell, 'surprise!'" she explained.

The girls cheered.

"They're coming!" Urd cried from the window.

"Turn out the lights!" Tamiya bellowed. "Places!"

The lights went off and everyone hid. They could hear Skuld and Keiichi as they opened the door and stepped inside.

"So, did they hurt you or anything?" Skuld asked.

"Well, there was one big guy who said if he had his choice of any girlfriend in lock-up, it would be me," Keiichi said. "I guess it still counts as a compliment, so..." He switched on the lights and everyone jumped up.

"SURPRISE!"

Keiichi blinked, then his eyes narrowed as he looked down at Skuld. "Please tell me this is not why I spent the last ten hours in jail..."

"Oh, get over yourself!" Skuld told him before hastily disappearing.

Belldandy rushed forward through the crowd and kissed him. "Happy birthday, my Keiichi," she said into his ear.

888

Urd popped the top on another beer and took a long drink as she looked over Otaki's shoulder at the grill behind the club house.

"They'll be ready soon," he told her, turning over another hot dog.

Before she could reply, she felt a hand take her shoulder and guide her insistently several feet away. Breaking free, she turned and found Yazlyn standing there. In the interest of not drawing attention, the valkyrie wore a green blouse and a pair of khaki slacks, but still managed to look totally out of place.

"What's the big deal?" Urd asked. Taking a breath, she collected herself. She was _not_ going to let the war goddess rile her today. "There's a beverage here," she said, raising her beer. "Be careful."

"You and I need to have a conversation," Yazlyn told her with a determined grimace.

"I've had about all the conversations with you I can stand," Urd growled.

"Well, you get one more," Yazlyn replied. "I don't know what you did to turn Gwydion's head... Wait, scratch that, I can pretty much guess what you did. But I want you to know one thing." She took a step into Urd's personal space. "You hurt him, you manipulate him, you use him, you play him for a fool, and you answer to me. His life matters to me. Yours does not."

Urd folded her arms over her chest. "Gee, are you threatening me? I really couldn't tell there under all the subtlety."

The valkyrie gritted her teeth. "I'm telling you," she hissed. "That if you're using him as part of some demon plan... I'm going to rip your angel out of your body and wear it as a hat. You may have the others fooled into thinking you're just some misunderstood goody-two shoes at heart, but to me, you're just... a filthy... _half-breed_."

That was the button, the last one that needed to be pushed. Before the valkyrie could say another word, the echo of the goddess' slap was echoing across campus.

Yazyln growled and grabbed Urd's hair and the Norn reached out for the face, screaming at one another.

"What's going on?!" Skuld cried, coming out the back door.

"Your sister and your friend are fighting!" Otaki told her, transfixed by the sight.

Skuld sighed. "I'll handle this. They just need some cold water..." She lifted her arms and closed her eyes. "I summon H-two-oh!" she cried.

The two women screamed as water dumped on them from the sky, drenching them both and turning the dirt around them into mud. With a cry, they slipped and continued to fight.

"Oh, well, that didn't help at all, did it?" Skuld asked, scratching her head. By this time, Tamiya and several other members of the Auto Club were outside watching Urd and Yazlyn mud wrestle.

"Den chan, this is the greatest day our club has ever known," Otaki whispered, his eyes never leaving the sight. Tamiya rumbled in his throat and nodded.

888

Inside the club house kitchen area, Belldandy was pulling a cake out of the refrigerator when a shadow fell over her. Turning, she saw one of the Auto Club's newest applicants standing there.

"Hello," Belldandy said with a bright smile.

"You're Belldandy, aren't you?" the woman asked. Her long black hair fell down her back nearly to her ankles while dark, oblong eyes smiled at her. She held a plate of cookies in her hand.

"Hai," Belldandy told her, rising to her feet. She blinked. "Have we met?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm Han Ba." She smiled nervously. "I'm an exchange student too. I'm in the Home Ec program."

"That's wonderful," Belldandy said with a smile. She turned and placed the cake on a nearby counter.

Han Ba smiled. "I made these walnut and date cookies, but I think there's something missing. Everyone says what a great cook you are. If you could try one and tell me where I'm going wrong, I'd really appreciate it!"

"Of course!" Belldandy replied. Han Ba held the plate out, and Belldandy took one of the cookies from it. Raising it to her lips, she bit into it and chewed for barely a second before she started coughing. "Hot!" she cried. "They're hot!"

"Oh my!" Han Ba cried. "Let me get you some water!" The exchange student rushed to the sink and quickly filled a glass... not even missing a beat as she dropped a small orb into the glass. "Here you go!" she exclaimed as she pushed the glass into the goddess' hands.

Belldandy drank the whole thing down quickly as Han Ba watched. "Han Ba san, did you put some kind of chili pepper in your..." She broke off as a flash of awareness passed through her.

_Something is wrong,_ she thought. _Very wrong..._

Han Ba looked down at her. "You'll understand soon," she said quietly.

Belldandy looked up at her, her vision going blurry. "Keiichi..."

888

Skuld opened the door and rushed inside. "Oneesama, Urd and Yazlyn are..." She stopped dead when she saw Han Ba standing over Belldandy's unconscious form.

"What did you do to her?!" Skuld demanded.

"I did nothing! She was fine, and then she fell over and..."

Han Ba blinked as she felt something touch her mind. Skuld was gritting her teeth as Han Ba's memory of the last thirty seconds replayed in both their minds. Finally, Han Ba pulled back and hissed.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you how rude that is?!" Han Ba cried as an angel with long, green hair sprang from behind her.

Skuld held out her hands. "URD! YAZLYN! SENSEI! HELP ME!"

Han Ba struck out with a power bolt, and Skuld reeled back as her force field took the full brunt of the blast.

The Chinese goddess and her angel turned to pick up Belldandy but were thrown backwards as a lightning bolt struck them in the side. Turning, she saw Urd and Yazlyn, covered in mud, standing in the doorway. Gwydion entered a moment later and knelt next to his student as the three goddesses faced off.

Without a word, the goddess leapt through the window and flew off.

"Yazlyn!" Gwydion shouted from where he knelt at Skuld's side.

"She's mine!" the valkyrie growled as her wings sprung from her back and she took off.

Yazlyn spotted the woman flying directly ahead of her and picked up speed, increasing her altitude as she went. Reaching out with her hand, she let several force bolts fly, one of them coming close enough to singe Han Ba's hair.

The Chinese goddess and her angel turned to face the valkyrie and charged right at her. Yazlyn turned her body to dodge the blow, but the other goddess was much more agile than that. She struck the valkyrie dead on, grappling with her.

Yazlyn managed to get a hold of both of Han Ba's wrists as the two goddesses fell like rocks toward the earth. Looking up, she saw the green-haired angel point her finger at her and prepare a spell.

She closed her eyes and summoned her power. "Come forth, Righteous Mavia!"

An angel with red-gold hair and a tattoo on her left shoulder sprang from Yazlyn's soul and wrapped her hands around the other angel's throat. The green haired angel tore at Righteous Mavia's hands as they continued to fall.

"You're coming with me, bitch," Yazlyn growled.

Her eyes went wide as she saw something she'd never heard of before. Han Ba's angel spoke.

"Only... unto... death!" it croaked at her.

888

"Belldandy! Belldandy, are you okay!" Keiichi cried, holding his unconscious fiancé in his arms. "Answer me!"

Urd knelt beside them as Gwydion tended to Skuld. They were drawing a crowd now as everyone who had been outside watching the fight rushed in to see what was going on.

Slowly, Belldandy's eyes opened. "Eh?" she asked.

"Oh, thank goddess!" he whimpered and hugged her close.

"Keiichi? Are you all right?" she asked.

"Lie still, Belldandy," Urd told her as she looked her sister over. "Gwydion, how's Skuld?"

"She got the wind knocked out of her," her boyfriend called back. "But she'll be fine."

"What happened, Belldandy?" Keiichi asked.

"I... I was eating one of Han Ba san's cookies... Oh, Keiichi... it was so awful!"

"What? Did she hurt you?"

"No, the cookies had some kind of chili powder in them! They were awful!"

Keiichi closed his eyes. "Belldandy, focus. Then what happened?"

"I drank a glass of water, and I started feeling woozy," Belldandy said.

"Someone tried slipping Bell chan a roofie?!" one of the Auto Club's members cried out from the back. "Let's go get the bastard!"

A few moments later, the entire Auto Club, complete with torches and pitch forks acquired from god knows where, marched out of the club house.

"They... they have no idea where they're going..." Urd said, her eyebrow twitching.

"Ara ara," Belldandy breathed.

"Oneesama!" Skuld cried, finally coming to her senses. She leapt forward and hugged her sister. "Are you okay?!"

"She is thanks to you, Skuld," Urd told her.

"Eh?"

"It looks like they slipped Belldandy some kind of sedative designed to put her in recharge mode," Urd told them. "If you hadn't stumbled in when you did, they might have gotten away with her."

"It was another goddess," Skuld said. "I felt her mind..."

"You what?" Gwydion asked.

Skuld turned to him. "I know you said not to, Sensei, but when I saw Oneesama lying there, I... I wanted to know the truth, so I reached into her mind and took it."

Gwydion shared a look with Urd, who looked absolutely awe-struck by what her sister had said.

The teacher rested a hand on Skuld's shoulder. "It's all right, Skuld," he said. "You did well. What did you see?"

Skuld shook her head. "It didn't feel like it did when I touched Urd's mind. It was different... Like I wasn't touching a goddess at all. She slipped something into Oneesama's water and said, 'You'll understand soon.'" She looked up at Gwydion. "What does it mean, Sensei?"

He squeezed Skuld's shoulder. "I don't know. We'll have to wait until Yazlyn brings her back."

"Thank you, Skuld," Belldandy said with a tired smile. "You saved my life."

"I did?"

"Thank you, Skuld!" Keiichi told her in heartfelt gratitude. "I don't know how to thank you."

Skuld flushed with pride. "Well... You know... It was just..." She laughed nervously. "It's just what I do!"

"God, I could use a beer!"

They turned and found Yazlyn, her clothes burnt and torn, enter the room, rubbing the back of her head.

"Where's Han Ba san?" Belldandy asked.

"Dead," Yazlyn told her, collapsing in a chair. "We fought in the air for awhile, then both fell into a construction site." She shook her head. "I've never seen a god fight so hard. I tried to capture her alive, but she..." She shook her head again.

"Did she say anything?" Urd asked.

Yazlyn looked at her for several moments as if not sure what to say. Finally, she shook her head. "The goddess didn't say anything," she said honestly. She gave a meaningful glance to Gwydion, and he nodded slightly. Yazlyn wanted to tell him something she didn't want the others to hear.

"Can you stand?" Keiichi asked Belldandy.

"Hai," she said and let the mortal boy help her to her feet.

"Take it easy tonight, okay?" Urd told her. "We still don't know exactly what she slipped you."

"I'm sure it'll be all right," Belldandy told her. "I feel fine."

"Okay," Keiichi said. "Party's over. Let's get Belldandy home."

888

"She spoke to me, Gwydion! She _spoke_ to me!" Yazlyn cried after she shut the teacher's door behind them and locked it.

"Who? Han Ba?" he asked.

"No! The _angel_!" she hissed.

Gwydion gave her a skeptical look. "Angels don't speak," he told her calmly. "They can communicate mentally with their god or goddess or with another if the god is particularly powerful... But they don't talk. The only one in our history was Cordelia, and she was a goddess."

"This one did," Yazlyn told him assuredly. She started pacing. "Remember what I told you about Minuette? After I killed her angel and right before she died?"

"Yeah, you said she was babbling something about not wanting an angel anymore."

"Gwydion, I think we might have something here!" Yazlyn told him. "Lind, the Grigori, and the others have all assumed that the connections in this insurgency were between the gods themselves! What if the connection is the angels?"

The teacher let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "You're talking about an angel that has the ability to override the wishes of their host god," he said incredulously.

"Why not?!" Yazlyn demanded. She sat down across from him. "When a god swallows an angel's egg and it hatches, the angel within the egg conforms itself to reflect its host. What if the reverse happens? What if the angel retains some kind of individuality and _claims_ the host for itself?"

"It would know everything the host knows," Gwydion whispered fearfully. "Act like the host... It could be anyone, anywhere." He stood up. "Leave," he ordered her. "Go back to Heaven. Tell Lind exactly what you've told me."

"We could just call her..."

"No," Gwydion said with a shake of his head. "For all we know Lind's aides or the switchboard at Combat are compromised. In person."

"What about the Norns?" she asked.

"I'll watch out for them," he said.

She nodded. "I'll leave in an hour." She stood to go.

"By the way," Gwydion said casually before she could leave. "What was that little episode with Urd today?"

Yazlyn started walking backwards and turned back to him, gripping the back of the chair she had just vacated.

"Okay, Old Man," she said quietly. "You want it, here it is. You're making a big mistake getting involved with her." At his silence, she pressed on. "She's half demon..."

"And half goddess," he reminded her.

"...and we can't trust her," she hissed. "Even The Almighty, her own father, doesn't trust her."

"What makes you say that?" Gwydion asked.

"Come on, Gwydion," she said with an incredulous laugh. "The Almighty's own daughter can't hold a first class license?! That doesn't strike you as strange?"

Gwydion regarded her for a moment. "Do you know why Urd doesn't have a license?"

"Yeah, she's a liar," Yazlyn told him.

"Actually, it's because she's honest," Gwydion told her. At the valkyrie's puzzled look, he continued. "You remember the last question on the first class test?"

"Yeah," she replied. "'Why do you want a first class license?'" she quoted. "It's the only question that never changes."

"It's also the only question that means automatic failure if you get it wrong," he told her. "We all know the answer. 'To benefit all the beings of Creation.'"

"Right."

"Urd answered by saying she wanted the power to protect her sisters," Gwydion said.

"Now who told you that? Urd?"

"Remember old Tam Kung?" At Yazlyn's nod he continued. "He was Urd's proctor. He told me. He said she knew what the 'correct' answer was, but chose to answer honestly because she didn't want her license based on a lie."

Yazlyn said nothing.

"Now, you can make your own decisions about Urd, and you're certainly entitled. But you might want to consider cutting her a little slack," he finished.

Yazlyn straightened. "We'll see." She offered him a parting smile. "See you soon, Old Man."

With that, she stepped out of his room and left.

888

"Keiichi, really, I'm fine," Belldandy assured him from the futon as he offered her another glass of water. "You don't have to run all over the house for me." She had changed into her pajamas and was sitting up in bed while Keiichi hovered.

"It's no trouble," he told her. "And Urd said you should take it easy tonight."

"But it's your birthday," she told him. She reached out and took his hand. "I wanted to do something special for you." The goddess held his hand to her cheek and closed her eyes.

Keiichi swallowed, but reached down deep and found the strength to shake his head. "No," he told her. "Urd said to take it easy."

Belldandy pouted but smiled after a moment at his concern. "Hai," she relented. "Will you at let me hold you?"

"Well... I don't think there's anything wrong with that," he conceded, climbing into the futon next to her.

Hugging him, she nuzzled against him. "Happy birthday, Keiichi," she whispered again.

He sighed happily and laid down next to her.

888

In her dream, she was walking through a long tunnel cut in stone. The soft light that heralded its end grew as she approached, raising her hopes that she would soon be outside again and in the sun's warm rays.

She held up her hand as the light grew brighter until finally, she was outside again. She stood at the exit a hundred yards from the edge of a thick forest. But it wasn't the verdant life that stood before her that drew her attention. Several miles away, in the middle of the great forest, stood a tree that climbed into the heavens, its trunk and branches forming a complicated double helix as it rose through the clouds.

"The World Tree," Belldandy breathed. "It's beautiful."

She could see points of light moving up and down the tree, tending to its branches. She reached out, hoping to feel it with her heart, but before she could establish a connection, the ground beneath her feet began to rumble and shift, knocking her to the ground.

Raising her head, she saw something massive flying directly over her head, miles long, hundreds of meters wide, white like angel down and beautiful. To her left and right, other ships floated toward the tree.

"Heaven's great ships?" she breathed.

She watched as the mammoth instruments of The Almighty's will floated forward, circling the great tree. As they came to a stop, blue energy coalesced through the conduits running throughout the ships' bodies, ending at the nose.

"NO!" she screamed, rushing forward. "STOP! DON'T!"

The energy collected in the ships' forward areas and shot forward, striking the tree, bathing it in fiery white light.

"PLEASE! STOP!" she screamed again, falling to her knees as a bright white light erupted from the World Tree, enveloping the forest and the ships with its power.

As her eyes adjusted to the sight, she felt someone's presence behind her and turned.

Holy Bell floated behind her, but she appeared different. The expression on her face was stern, and a lock of black hair hung over her left eye. Her lips moved, and Belldandy's eyes went wide as the angel spoke to her while the white light enveloped them both.

"Your life is at an end..."


	8. When the Light is as Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own AMG, I just love it.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 8

When the Light is as Darkness

_It was millenia ago, at the very dawn of Creation, back when there was only a single realm, and gods and goddesses were still discovering their place in The Almighty's plan. In one of the clusters of life in this single realm lived a goddess named Cordelia. The first true angel._

_Unlike the other gods, Cordelia existed ethereally, as light and shadow. Renowned for her beauty and power, she was loved by nearly all other gods._

_But one goddess, jealous of her power, cursed Cordelia, and her body began to slowly turn to stone. As the other gods lamented her fate, one god, Ukko, had fallen in love with Cordelia and swore to save her no matter what the price._

_Ukko devised a way to save Cordelia by giving her his body as a vessel and sacrificing his soul. To avoid her protests, Ukko didn't tell Cordelia the price of her salvation, but the goddess discovered it and tricked Ukko._

_Instead of taking his body for her own, she allowed his spirit to absorb her own and became a part of him, to be summoned at need._

Skuld let out the breath she had been holding. "But what goddess would do such a horrible thing to her?"

Gwydion smiled sadly. "This was long long ago, Skuld," he told her. "The Demons had not yet split from the gods. As a matter of fact, there are those who believe that the goddess who cursed Cordelia was Hild herself."

"Wow," Skuld breathed. "So what happened to them?"

Sitting under the plum tree outside, Gwydion fidgeted to find a more comfortable position. "During the First War Against God, Ukko and Cordelia were fatally injured. Their last act was to make themselves of the earth. On the spot where they died, a tree grows, and when it flowers, it produces the angel eggs every god and goddess swallows. In a way, every angel is a child of Cordelia and Ukko."

Skuld looked away for a moment. "Sensei, why are you telling me this story now?"

"Tell me about your angel, Skuld," he asked.

"I wasn't ready for her," Skuld told him. "I swallowed my egg two years ago... but I guess I wasn't mature or powerful enough to support her." She looked up at him. "She's still inside me, and every so often I get to see her, but..."

"But you're afraid to call on her," he finished.

She nodded.

"Did she ever speak to you?" he asked.

"All the time," she said. "Well... not talked, I guess. I just knew what she was thinking and she knew what I was thinking."

He smiled. "What if I told you I thought you might be ready again?"

She looked over at him and swallowed back butterflies. "Sensei, I... I don't know. Last time, I..."

"Last time, you were undisciplined and your powers had not developed to a point where you could sustain her," he told her. "You've grown leaps and bounds since then." His expression lost some of its exuberance. "And... I think the time is coming soon when we'll need her and all the power all of our angels can bring to bear."

"This is about what happened to Oneesama, right?" she asked.

He leaned close and took her shoulders in her hands. Skuld's heart pounded a little faster in her chest.

"Things are going very badly in Heaven right now, Skuld," he whispered. "Far worse than is generally known. The gods who are trying to kidnap your sister are also after you, and I don't know what they want to do with you. Because of my curse, I can no longer summon the concentration necessary for complicated or prolonged combat spells, so the only way I can protect you now is to make sure you can protect yourself."

"Sensei," she breathed.

"I didn't know at the time why your father asked me to teach you, Skuld," he said. "But I know now that he knew this challenge lay ahead of you. The time is coming, Skuld, when you will have to stand alone."

"Sensei... I know I can do anything... if you believe in me," she whispered. She closed her eyes and leaned forward...

And shot straight up in bed, breathing like she just ran a marathon. "Now, that's not fair!" she cried at the ceiling. She hmmphed. "Sliding a love-love fantasy into a disturbing memory..."

She looked down at the blanket as her teacher's words their earlier conversation came back to her. "So I'm going to have to stand alone, huh?" she asked. He had all but declared her a woman, he had obvious faith in her, so why was she cowering in her room at the thought of just telling him how she felt?

A _real_ goddess would just confess her feelings! A _real_ goddess wouldn't be afraid!

She sighed. "A real goddess would already know how he feels," she muttered.

A lightbulb went off in her head. "A _real_ goddess would use her vast, godly powers to find out," she declared.

Throwing off her blanket, she started for the door.

888

"Trouble sleeping?" Urd yawned.

Lying next to her in his futon, Gwydion growled. "It's your own fault if you can't sleep," he told her. "I warned you about my tossing and turning."

"If you would let me heal you again," Urd reminded him with a poke to his good shoulder, "Then you might sleep better." He had drunk a little, just enough to take some of the edge off the pain, nothing close to his usual dose, but he hoped it would be enough.

He turned onto his back, as far as he could without hurting his shoulder, and looked at her. Her smiling eyes looked back at him.

"What's really troubling you?" she asked.

The teacher searched her eyes for a few moments, then began. "Yazlyn may have found out who wants your sisters."

Urd's eyes went wide. "Who?"

He shook his head. "Not yet," he told her. "If it's true, then the only advantage we have is that they don't know how much we know."

"You're saying you don't trust me?" she asked.

"I trust you to do the right thing. Are you an honorable woman?" he asked.

"Of course I am! What kind of question is that!?"

"A damning one," he told her. "Because if you are, then you intend to honor your deal with Hild, and while I can respect that, this information isn't for demon ears... Not yet, anyway."

"I see," she hissed. "Well, then this demon will just leave you to your all important thoughts." She rose from the futon and threw on her robe.

"That's not what I meant," he growled.

"Right now, I'm just a bit too pissed to care," she told him. Without another glance, she stormed out of his room.

He growled and lay back down. He'd find a way to solve this problem in the morning after she had time to cool down.

888

Skuld slid the door open and peeked inside. Her teacher was tossing and turning, but otherwise appeared fully asleep.

"Chance!" she whispered to herself.

Crawling forward, she perched herself beside him and bit her lip, wondering how exactly she would do this. With Han Ba, it had been easy. She wanted the memory, and she took it. There wasn't a whole lot of time to go digging around or even to figure it out. It was instinct.

She reached out with her finger and touched his forehead. She would just focus her will as she had done before and demand that his mind give her the information she wanted.

No sweat.

Closing her eyes, she focused her will toward him. Her brow furrowed in effort. His mind was much older than hers, and it seemed to have more layers. She gently peeled them back...

And then she was somewhere else.

She hurt all over, particularly her arms, which were in the hands of two dark, reptilian-headed creatures that were dragging her down a long corridor. She heard screams all around her, pleas for mercy mixing with anguished cries.

"Where..."

When they finally dropped her, she tried to stand, but couldn't muster the strength. She managed to raise her head and gasped at the sight that met her.

Hild stood over her, a look of stern amusement on her face.

She tried to rise again, to run, to fly, to _anything_, but pain kept her from even moving her arms.

"Hild, I..."

One of the guards hissed and struck her back with his spear, digging the shadow blade through her body. She screamed in the most pain she had ever felt, tears running down her eyes as her hands tried vainly to reach behind her for the spear.

"Well, Colonel, we are approaching the end of our time together," Hild told her wistfully. She knelt next to her. "You have carried yourself well through this very difficult time for both of us," she said.

"There's some mistake," Skuld sobbed. "I'm not..."

"Tut tut," Hild said with an upraised finger. "We've covered when and how you may speak." She nodded to the guard, and Skuld screamed as he twisted the spear inside her.

"Please stop! Please!" Skuld cried. "Please..."

"That's better," Hild cooed. "Now, then, as I was saying, Colonel..." She covered her heart with both hands. "I honor you as a worthy opponent. Perhaps, had fate treated us more kindly, you would have led demons in my service. Woe that this is not to be... Are you paying attention?"

The spear moved again, and Skuld cried out in agony.

"Good!" The demon queen stood. "Before you go, I have a gift for you. A memento. So that you will never forget the time we spent together." She reached down at Skuld, her hand glowing a dark purple. "Not until the day you die..."

888

It was the most frightening sound Belldandy could ever remember hearing. Somewhere in their house, Skuld was being murdered. Rushing down the hall, she and Keiichi reached Gwydion's door the same time as Urd. Throwing it open, they found Gwydion kneeling over their sister, who was thrashing on the ground, screaming.

"What happened!?" Urd demanded.

"I don't know!" Gwydion replied. "I woke to find her like this!"

"MAKE IT STOP, SENSEI! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

"Skuld! Try to calm down!" Urd placed a hand on her to cast a soothing spell, but jerked her hand back at what she felt.

"Fire," she breathed.

Skuld had Gwydion's curse.

Finally, with one final gasp, Skuld passed out.

888

"How is she?" Urd asked as Belldandy stepped out of Skuld's room. Everyone in the house gathered around except for Gwydion, who stood several feet away. His eyes were cast downward, consumed in guilt.

"It has passed," Belldandy told them. "Apparently, her mind linked with Gwydion's, and as his curse depends greatly on his mind believing in his pain, her mind took on the effects as well."

"Did she say what she was doing in Gwydion's room to start with?" Urd asked.

Belldandy nodded. "It's private," she told them. "She would like to speak to you," she told Urd.

Urd nodded and stepped inside. Belldandy watched the door close behind her before turning to the teacher.

"Gwydion sensei," she began. "You mustn't blame yourself for this."

He chuckled quietly in self reproach. "I've spent a great deal of time and effort to keep my curse from affecting others," he told her. "I've learned to live with the pain over the course of the last few years. Seeing its effects on someone like Skuld... It's heartrending," he finished.

"Even so, it was not you who inflicted this on her," Belldandy told him. "It was merely an accident."

"An accident that should never be allowed to occur," he replied.

888

"Hey, kiddo," Urd said softly as she sat down next to Skuld's futon. "Feeling better?"

Skuld nodded sadly. "The pain's gone," she said. "But I can still remember how it feels. I mean, I close my eyes and think about it and I can almost feel it fresh in my mind." She looked up at her older sister. "Is that how he really feels every day?"

"Every moment," Urd confirmed.

Skuld swallowed. "I just wanted to know how he felt about me," she said guiltily. "I wasn't trying to... I don't know... violate him..."

Urd squeezed her hand. "He cares about you a great deal," she said. "Did you know he gave up drinking, even though it lets him sleep through the pain, because he wanted to be able to protect you?"

Tears welled up in Skuld's eyes as more guilt erupted within her.

Urd felt guilty as well. Her relationship with Skuld had improved over the last month, and she knew the moment Skuld found out about her and Gwydion, that was all going to change. Perhaps if she had just announced it to her the morning after that first night with him, this might have been avoided.

"How am I ever going to face him again?" Skuld sobbed quietly.

"You have to," Urd told her. "You're his student, he's your teacher. And that's not a bond you can just break." She smiled for her benefit. "Especially now. You're probably the only woman who can truly understand what he's going through. I'm... I'm jealous... a little."

"You love him too, don't you?" Skuld asked, turning her head away. "Don't lie to me... please."

"Yeah, I do," her sister replied.

Skuld bit her lip. "I knew it," she said. She squared her shoulders. "Next time, just say something, okay? Don't let me think I have a chance when I don't."

"Skuld..."

"This is the last freebie I'm going to give you," Skuld told her, still not facing her. "I want to sleep now, okay?"

"Okay," Urd said, squeezing her shoulder. "If you need anything..."

Skuld just nodded, and Urd stood up. "You're a more mature woman than I am, Skuld," she said before she quietly stepped outside.

The young goddess, through a herculean effort, managed to hold back the tears until the door was closed again.

888

"Making ice cream?" Keiichi asked as he opened the refrigerator and started rooting around for a soda.

Standing at the counter, Belldandy nodded. "Skuld must be feeling so terrible," she sighed as she mixed the ingredients. "She had such a crush on Gwydion sensei. It's a very difficult time for a goddess her age."

"I bet," Keiichi told her. "What about you?"

"Eh?"

"Even before what happened last night, you were tossing and turning a lot," he told her. "Are you feeling okay?"

Flashes of her dreams pushed into prominence in her mind. The World Tree, the odd-looking Holy Bell, and something even more disturbing.

Throughout the day, she had been having flashes of weakness, and when she closed her eyes, she could swear she saw Holy Bell... suffocating... clawing for breath.

She took a breath. "I had nightmares last night," she told him truthfully. "And I don't feel well today."

He blinked and adopted a stern, but worried expression. "Then you shouldn't be up. We still don't know what was in that... whatever it was Han Ba slipped you." He moved to take her arm. "Let's get you to bed."

She pulled away. "No, Keiichi. I'll be fine. With everything that happened last night, I'm just a little off."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Hai," she replied, grateful for his concern. "Besides, Skuld needs this more than I need rest."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

She smiled. "Pass the rock salt?"

888

"Are you done beating yourself up yet?" Urd asked, her arms folded over her chest.

She had found him outside, staring into the koi pond. The goddess tried valiantly to keep a stern expression on her face, but it was difficult, knowing the guilt he must surely be feeling at that moment.

"Do you see now why I didn't want you to risk it?" he asked quietly. "Thank The Almighty that it passed quickly. Seeing her like that..." He turned to her. "I don't know what I'd do if I saw you like that."

Urd swallowed nervously at the thought. She had never truly appreciated the pain he went through, seeing his ability to bear it. Watching her sister deal with it was simply horrifying. And it could so easily have been her.

"I don't have the strength to see that," he told her. "I just don't." He looked up at her. "So we're not going to do it anymore."

"Wait a second, Gwydion," she said exasperated. "I agree there are risks, but..." She shook her head. "We shouldn't just give up on this! You don't deserve to feel like that anymore than Skuld does."

"Don't I?" he asked quietly.

"Don't you dare," she hissed. "What happened to Gaeriel wasn't your fault!"

His expression darkened. "And how would you know whether it was my fault or not?" he demanded. "You weren't there! You didn't see!"

Urd could say nothing to this. He was right.

"My decisions put her there," he told her.

"You can't keep carrying this around with you," Urd told him. "You can't do right by your current student if you can't let go of the last!"

She reached out and took his arm, pulling him around to face her. "Tell me what happened," she asked quietly.

He took a deep breath and finally nodded. Trying to find the right place to begin, he paused for several moments. Urd waited, not willing to let him get away this time. Finally, he began.

"Three years ago, two platoons were detailed to a mission in Realm Five-One-Two," he said.

"The Roundtable," she said.

He nodded. "Yes, exactly. Our reconnaissance there said a force of about forty demons was milling around there. It was a treaty violation, but not one big enough to touch off a massive counterstrike. Lind settled for driving them out."

The teacher swallowed. "Gaeriel had graduated training two days before, and she wanted to go. She said she had studied the maps, the intel, all of it." He smiled wistfully. "Gaeriel always did her homework," he shared. "I thought she wasn't ready, but she wore me down, and I finally said she could be a back-up if another god couldn't make it. It was the night before the mission and everything was good to go. I couldn't imagine anyone dropping out at that point."

He trailed off, and Urd waited for him to continue. "Well... someone did," he told her. "Two hours before mission start, one of Yazlyn's squad members came down with a spiritual bug, and she needed a replacement." He shook his head. "Gaeriel was already better briefed and prepared than most of the primary team members, and I had already agreed to let her be a back-up. I couldn't justify saying no at that point, so I let her come. Against every instinct I had, I didn't go back on my word. If I had followed my instincts..."

"Then another god would be dead," Urd told him. "Would that be better?"

He shook his head. "You don't understand. Another god wouldn't have..." He trailed off.

"What?"

"During the final retreat," he began again. "When there were only five of us left and we were only a hundred meters from the line out... I turned back... to buy the others time." He swallowed back tears. "And against orders... she turned back with me." He wiped his eyes. "Another god would have survived. Another god wouldn't have turned back!"

"And then they killed her," Urd finished sadly.

He nodded. "She took a hit, not bad, but it slowed her down enough for them to get a bead on her. I saw the blast that hit her, I even thought for a moment I had pushed her out of the way in time... Then I looked down at her... and she was ash... Ash that blew away in that damn wind..."

Gwydion looked down at the pond again. "Another god wouldn't have turned," he breathed out through a sob. "She shouldn't have turned..."

Urd reached out and took his face in her hands. "She turned because she loved you," Urd whispered. "Just like Skuld loves you. You're right, Gwydion. Another god, a lesser god, wouldn't have turned. But you trained her to be better than other gods. And that's what she was... right until the very end. And that's what we _need_ you to make Skuld. If she's going to survive this... She has to be better than what she thinks she can be."

Gwydion wouldn't meet her eyes until she pulled his head up to meet her gaze. "You took a risk and paid for your friends to escape," she told him. "Let someone... let me... take a risk for you."

She leaned forward and gently kissed him, a kiss not of passion or lust, but of simple understanding.

Watching them from the back porch, Belldandy smiled.

888

Skuld turned to the sound of the knock at her door. "Come in," she called out.

The door slid open, and she turned away in shame. The sound of Gwydion's cane clacked against the wood floor as he walked up to her, stopping only when he knelt beside her.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Sensei," she began, not facing him. "I am so sorry..."

"Don't worry about that now," he told her. "You rest up, get your strength back."

She nodded.

"I have something for you," he told her. He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a small, leather-bound book. He placed it on her stomach and waited for her to pick it up.

She finally turned enough to read the title. "Poems?"

"Just something to take your mind off it," he told her, knowing he sounded foolish at the same time. "I think you'll find them a better source of insight."

She smiled when she saw the author's name written in ornate handwriting laced with gold below the title.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "Rest."

888

Urd shook her caboose from side to side as she leaned over to search the refrigerator, singing quietly as she went.

"I want it, I want it, I want it!" she sang. "I'm hot for teacher..."

"Neesan?"

She reappeared at the hail, holding a bottle of wine and two glasses, and found Belldandy standing behind her. "Hmmm?"

"I was going to ask if you lost something," Belldandy told her.

"No, just getting some... medicinal potions," she said with a wink.

Belldandy smiled. "I see. Gwydion sensei wants to go to sleep."

Urd grinned as she backed through the door to the hall. "Oh, he's not sleeping tonight." With that, she disappeared.

Not as naive as she was a week ago, Belldandy blushed just a bit. Giving the idea some thought, she opened the fridge and found the last bottle of red wine. Grabbing two glasses from the cabinet, she started for her room.

888

Belldandy took his face in her hands as she kissed him again, reveling in the feel of him near her as she stroked his hair. She sighed as he moved downward and kissed her neck tenderly.

He broke off a moment later and looked at her. "Belldandy, are you sure you're feeling up to this tonight? If you're not feeling well..."

"Keiichi," she whispered, leaning forward to nip his ear. "Nothing will make me feel more like myself than being with you."

He seemed to relent, and she seized the opportunity, gently pushing him onto his back so she could straddle him. Reaching back, she undid the ribbon in her hair as he watched her hair cascade down over her shoulders and tickling his chest. She smiled as she played with the top button of her pajamas and leaned down to kiss him.

As she breathed into him, she opened her eyes and found she could see them reflected in Keiichi's. She blinked as she stared into his brown eyes, studied the blue eyes staring back...

Keiichi felt her tongue go limp in his mouth and watched as she sat up suddenly.

"Belldandy?"

She shook her head and climbed off him, scooting into a corner. "It's not me," she whispered, looking down at her hands. Shaking her head again, she cried out again. "It's not me!"

Keiichi stumbled toward her. "Belldandy? What is it?"

She looked up at her fiancé, tears in her eyes. "They're not my eyes, Keiichi! They're not my eyes!"

888

Belldandy stared down at the kitchen table, hands folded in her lap, as Urd took the seat next to her, passing her a cup of tea.

"I made it, so it's not great," Urd told her, pausing to adjust her lavender silk robe.

"I'm so sorry," Belldandy whispered. "Keiichi shouldn't have bothered you. I know you and Gwydion were... were busy."

Urd offered her a gentle smile. "Remember when you said I was never alone? Neither are you. What's wrong?"

"It's foolish," Belldandy told her. She took her tea cup with trembling hands, telling Urd that it was no simple scare the Norn had had.

"I'm an expert on what's foolish," Urd told her. "Hit me."

Belldandy took a breath. "I... I was with Keiichi, and I looked into his eyes, and I saw my own... But they weren't my eyes. It was someone else's eyes..."

"They're still your eyes, Belldandy," Urd told her. "What else?"

"I've been having horrible dreams," the goddess conceded. "Like the kind Moder said she had. But in my dreams, I see... I see Holy Bell... But it's not her...She speaks to me...Says awful things..." She shook her head. "Neesan, I don't know what to think."

"You're under a lot of stress," Urd told her. "Perhaps you should..."

As Urd spoke, Belldandy's attention drifted. She felt wrong... Somehow very wrong... Then it happened.

She gasped.

"Belldandy?!"

The middle sister covered her mouth in horror. She started crying uncontrollably.

"What is it?!" Urd demanded, rising to her feet as if expecting an attack at any moment.

Belldandy looked up at her. "She's gone," she whispered.

"Who? Who's gone?"

Belldandy sobbed. "Holy Bell! Neesan, I can't feel Holy Bell anymore! She's gone!"

888

"I'm real sorry," Keiichi said with a slight blush. "I didn't know you two were... well... I wouldn't have rushed in without knocking if I knew you two were..."

Gwydion shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Keiichi," he said, subconsciously glancing at the clock. He had about ten hours left before the curse reasserted itself. Hopefully, whatever was bothering Belldandy had an easy fix.

They heard Belldandy crying out, what they couldn't tell. Then the sound of a body hitting the floor.

"GWYDION! KEIICHI!"

The two rushed into the kitchen and found Urd kneeling over an unconscious Belldandy.

"What happened?" Gwydion demanded.

Urd shook her head. "She was crying, saying something about not being able to sense Holy Bell anymore, and then she passed out."

"Her angel?" Gwydion asked.

"Yeah," Urd replied.

"What else did she say about her?" Gwydion demanded curtly.

Urd blinked, feeling this was hardly the time. She answered anyway. "She said she had been having nightmares about Holy Bell... That she told her weird things..."

"Told her?" Gwydion asked. "You mean spoke to her?"

"I... I guess so! I don't know!"

"Help me get her into her room," Gwydion ordered, using one hand to lift her arm while the other supported him with his cane.

The goddess and the mortal each took a side as Gwydion led them to Belldandy and Keiichi's room.

"Gwydion, what's going on?" Keiichi asked. "What's wrong with Belldandy?"

The three laid her down, and without answering, Gwydion rushed back to his room, reappearing three tension-filled minutes later. He held three blue crystals in his hand, each about the size of a dime. He handed two to Urd.

"One in each of her hands," he ordered. He knelt next to Belldandy as Urd complied, placing the last gem on the goddess' forehead.

"She picked a good time to do this," Gwydion muttered. "I wouldn't be able to do this spell with the curse in effect."

"Yeah," Urd said, rolling her eyes. "It's perfect timing."

"Step back," he ordered them. Closing his eyes, he place his hand six inches above Belldandy's chest. With a flash of light, Broken Bow appeared above him. Gwydion's lips moved rapidly, speaking in the gods' program language. After several moments of spell casting, he finished, opening his eyes and intoning...

"_Angel come forth!"_

Belldandy's body filled with a white light that moved and reshaped itself as it coalesced in her chest between the three crystals. The light grew, rising from her body and took shape. White wings unfurled from its back and blonde hair, interrupted by a black widow's peak, formed on its head.

"Holy Bell," Keiichi breathed.

Gwydion rose to his feet as the light softened, allowing them to make out its features. Except for the lock of black hair, it was Holy Bell.

The teacher faced it, his expression one of anger. "I would speak with you," he said.

"I have nothing to say," the angel told him. Urd nearly felt her jaw hit the floor. "Not to you, not to your broken slave."

"What have you done to this goddess?" Gwydion demanded. "Release her at once."

"Her body is mine," the angel told him with hate-filled eyes.

"No!" Keiichi cried, stepping between Gwydion and the angel. "You can't do that!"

The sight of him seemed to throw the angel off guard. "Keiichi..." it whispered. It broke off and turned back to Gwydion, its hate once again firmly entrenched. "This body belongs to me. She is my host. Harm me and harm her."

"What do you want?" Urd demanded. "A hostage? You can have me. Just release her!"

The angel's lips curled up into a sneer. "I will not accept the body of a sinner," she growled. "Or a body upon which sin has been committed," she said with a glance to Gwydion. "You ask what I want, I want her. Now leave me to finish what I have begun."

With that, the angel once again sank into Belldandy's body. The light left. There was no sound from any of them.

888

"What do we do?" Keiichi whispered, his mind not fully recognizing what was happening. After a moment without an answer, he turned to Urd. "Urd... What do we do?"

"I don't know," she told him. "I've never seen an angel speak before."

Broken Bow disappeared within his master as Gwydion put the pieces together. "She didn't swallow a sedative," he told them. "Han Ba slipped her an angel's egg. One of _their_ angel's eggs."

"What do you mean?" Urd said. "Belldandy already has an angel."

"And that, I think, is the only hope we have left," Gwydion told her. "A goddess can only support one angel at a time. I think the work this one wants to finish is killing Holy Bell. Once she does that, she'll own Belldandy's soul."

"But how can that be?" Keiichi asked. "I thought angels were reflections of goddesses! That an angel had to obey their commands!"

Urd gave Gwydion a look that told him he had a lot of explaining to do. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time. "Keiichi," he said, "Go wake up Skuld."

He wanted to protest, but in the end, he nodded and went to the young goddesses room.

"What are you thinking?" Urd asked him.

"We need to draw it out of Belldandy's body, make it give it up. It won't come out, so one of us has to go in."

"Skuld?" Urd asked.

"No," Gwydion told her. "Skuld is how we're going to get there. If I'm right, there's only one person who might get that angel to change her mind."

888

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Urd asked, her hands on his shoulders.

Keiichi nodded solemnly. "If there's even a chance of saving her, I'm going to do it."

Urd nodded in reply. "Remember, if Gwydion's right, Belldandy's love for you might transfer to this angel... but if he's wrong..."

"If he's wrong, it won't matter," Keiichi told her quietly.

Urd blinked at the statement, knowing full well what the boy meant, but didn't force him to elaborate.

A few feet away, Gwydion was offering his student a similar pep talk.

"I don't know, Sensei," she said quietly. "I don't think I can do it..."

"I know you can, Skuld," he told her. "You're not going in. You're just going to be a conduit for Keiichi. I need you to maintain a connection to them both."

Skuld said nothing.

"Your sister needs you," Gwydion told her.

The young goddess' face turned stern, and she nodded once. "Okay... Let's do this."

She turned and knelt next to Belldandy.

"Are you ready, Keiichi?" Gwydion asked.

He nodded and knelt on the other side of his fiancé.

Gwydion squeezed Skuld's shoulder. "Just like I told you."

Skuld closed her eyes and took a breath. She reached out and took Keiichi's hand in her left. The fingertips of her right touched Belldandy's forehead as she bent her will to them both.

Gwydion and Urd watched as Skuld's brow furrowed in concentration. The young goddess reached out, touching Keiichi's mind and establishing a solid lock, but when she tried to touch Belldandy's she lost the grip on Keiichi's.

"I can't touch them both," she said.

"Keep trying," Gwydion told her.

She tried again, and again the tendrils of her will slipped from one as she tried to make contact with the other. She wasn't powerful enough!

She cursed her own inability. Oneesama needed her! She gritted her teeth and tried again, almost having it but missing once again. She gasped as she realized it wasn't her power, it was her attention.

Taking a deep breath, she summoned her concentration and her power into her heart.

"Angel come forth!"

The goddess shined with light as a golden-haired angel rose from Skuld's back, but to Urd's surprise, it wasn't the Noble Scarlet she knew. This angel appeared much older, its hair longer, but the smile on its face told her it was indeed her sister's angel.

Skuld felt Noble Scarlet's presence behind her and silently ordered her to hold the connection with Keiichi while she concentrated on Belldandy.

When it happened, it felt like a brand new part snapping into place on a circuit board. There was nothing, and then there was current.

"I've got it!" she cried.

888

Keiichi felt like his mind was being flushed down a toilet, being twisted, spun and then sucked down into a black hole. When his eyes opened again, he was standing in the middle of an expansive field of grass.

He turned from side to side, looking for some landmark with which to get his bearings. His eyes finally fell on a four poster bed about a hundred feet away. On guard, he started for it.

As he approached, he saw there was someone sleeping in it. He slowed, afraid of waking whoever it was. He crept closer and hissed quietly at the sight of Holy Bell lying on the bed, her head lolling from side to side as if in the throes of a nightmare.

"Holy Bell," he whispered. "Can you hear me?"

"I'm afraid not."

He turned and found the other angel floating ten feet behind him. Gritting his teeth, he pointed at his fiance's angel. "What is this?!" he demanded. "What are you doing to her!?"

The angel smiled gently. "Keiichi dear... I'm killing her, of course."

888

"So, this is what you weren't going to tell me," Urd whispered in Gwydion's ear. "That it's the angels, not the gods, who are the insurgents?"

The instructor turned from the sight of Keiichi, Skuld and Belldandy and faced his irate lover. "Yazlyn returned to Heaven to report it and try to confirm it," he said. "No one else knows. That's the way it stays."

"I see," Urd said. "Not even us, huh?"

"This isn't exactly public information," he whispered to her. "The less you know, the less can be taken from you."

Urd mulled this over. "I don't like being played, Gwydion," she said quietly. "Not by Troubadour. Not by you."

"That was not my intent..."

"You said it yourself," she continued. "Either we're lovers or we're not. Love implies trust. Trust me."

He turned to face her and nodded once.

888

"Why?!" he demanded. "Why are you doing this?!"

"A host can only support one angel, Keiichi dear," the angel told him. "It's either her or me."

"Who _are_ you?" he asked.

The angel smiled. "You may call me Division Bell," she said with a polite curtsey.

Her attitude toward him baffled the college student. She had shown nothing but the most intense hatred toward Gwydion and Urd. He watched her eyes track him as he regarded her. She glanced

demurely down at the ground. Perhaps Urd was right. Maybe Division Bell shared Belldandy's feelings for him.

"I'm Keiichi," he said.

"I know," Division Bell replied immediately. "I know everything my host knows of you."

"Then you have to know why this is wrong," he pleaded.

"I know it _appears_ wrong from your perspective, Keiichi dear," she said, floating toward him and caressing his face with a glowing hand. "But what I and the others are doing is for the greatest good."

"What good can come from this?" he demanded.

She refused to answer. "Do not be concerned," she begged. "I will be just as much Belldandy as she was. Had not the others intervened, our eyes would have opened in an hour or so, and you would not have been able to tell the difference. I would look and talk and act just like her."

"But you wouldn't _be_ her!" he replied. "You have to know this won't work," he told her, trying a different tactic. "The System Force won't allow Belldandy and I to be separated."

She smiled. "Keiichi dear, Belldandy's feelings for you are incredibly strong, and as such, I find I've inherited them." She floated close and touched her lips against his. "I'm going to keep you."

"Keep me?" he asked, his face incredulous.

"Hai!" Division Bell replied in a tone that reminded Keiichi so much of Belldandy it threatened to break his heart. She leaned in and whispered to him. "Once I own this body in full, I promise nothing will change. In fact, I'll even do things for you that she never would. You will have your goddess, Keiichi dear. You will not be parted from her."

"But you _are_ parting me from her," he told her, taking hold of the angel's shoulders and keeping her at arm's length. "You can never be her. You can only be the creature who stole her body!"

"That attitude will pass," she consoled, trying to press into him again.

"No," he said. "It won't."

She smiled. "You will see."

Keiichi searched his mind for more, some leverage. "What would it take to get you to leave her?" he asked. "Whatever it is, I'll find a way to get it for you."

"It's not about price, Keiichi dear," she told him. "This is my body now. I could just as easily ask what it would take for you to leave yours."

He bit his lip and nodded. "Her life," he answered.

"What?" Division Bell asked, genuinely confused.

"Saving her," he said. "That's what it would take. If it would save her... I'd do it."

Her face fell. "Keiichi darling?"

"I'd gladly give my life if it will save hers," he told her.

"Neither of us want that," she told him. "You shouldn't speak like that," the angel went on, a sob touching her voice. "It depresses me. It would depress her."

He smiled. "Belldandy knows... I'd die to save her life... and I'd rather us both die than see her enslaved in her own body."

Division Bell shook her head. "No, Keiichi dear, that's foolish talk!"

"You know your host," he said. "Ask her."

The angel's tears welled up as she found the answer in Belldandy's soul.

"Skuld!" he called out. "Can you hear me?"

"Um... Kinda," they both heard Skuld's voice reverberating through the field. "How's it going in there?"

"Skuld, I want you to listen carefully," Keiichi said, his voice threatening to crack as panic reached into him.

_You really don't want to do this,_ he told himself. _You don't want to do this!_

_No, but I _am_ willing to do it..._

"I want you to tell Urd..." He swallowed and started again.

"I want you to tell Urd to kill me."

888

Skuld's eyes shot open as she gasped in shock.

"What is it?!" Urd demanded. "What's wrong?!"

Skuld swallowed and turned her head. "Could you hold on one second?" She closed her eyes again.

"_That is the STUPIDEST thing I've ever heard!" _she shouted back at him through the link with Belldandy.

"_You heard me," _Keiichi responded. _"If Division Bell doesn't leave Belldandy's body by the time I count to three, I want Urd to hit me with a depth charge."_

She opened her eyes and turned back to Urd. "He says if the angel doesn't leave Belldandy's body by the time he counts to three, to hit him with a spell and kill him."

"What?!" Urd cried. "That's just stupid!"

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" Skuld shot back.

"Tell him no!"

Skuld closed her eyes. _"Urd says no."_

888

Keiichi gritted his teeth. "I'm telling you," he said. "I can't live without Belldandy." He turned and saw Division Bell looking at him in horror. "And I won't."

Division Bell shook her head. "I won't allow it."

He looked at her. "There's only one way you can stop me."

888

Skuld opened her eyes again. "He says he won't live without Oneesama."

"Tell him he's an idiot!" Urd cried.

Gwydion's eyes went wide with dawning realization.

"Besides," Urd continued, folding her arms over her chest. "I couldn't even if I wanted to. I healed Gwydion a couple of hours ago, so my powers are gone."

"Tell him I'll do it."

Urd turned on Gwydion like an enraged cobra. "You'll _what?!_"

"Skuld," the teacher continued. "Tell Keiichi his wishes will be respected." He swallowed as he pointed a finger at Keiichi's head and powered a spell. "This had better work," he whispered.

888

Keiichi heard Skuld's announcement and nodded, taking a deep breath. "Tell Gwydion to get ready," he said, hoping that the teacher knew what he was talking about. "One..."

Division Bell launched herself at him. "Keiichi dear! Please! Don't do this! I love you too much to bear your death! Please!"

"Two..."

"I can't give her up! I can't!" Division Bell cried.

"Neither can I," Keiichi whispered. He took a breath and braced himself.

"THREE!"

Division Bell disappeared.

888

"THREE!" Skuld cried.

Gwydion gave it a half second more...

And Division Bell erupted out of Belldandy's body as if shot from a gun. Screeching in rage, she launched herself at Gwydion. The teacher adjusted and fired the sealing spell he had been preparing at the angel.

And missed...

The angel collided with him head on, throwing him against the wall, her luminous hands wrapping around the god's throat.

"YOU WILL NOT HARM HIM!" she screamed. "SAVAGE CHILD IN A RACE OF BARBARIANS! I'LL SEE ALL OF YOU DEAD FIRST!"

Gwydion reached out with his hands, trying to pry the angel off him, but his arms went right through her as if she were made of mist.

"Urd," he croaked.

Urd wasn't sure what to do. Without her powers, she couldn't even touch the angel. As it turned out, she didn't have to. She saw something move from the corner of her eye and leapt out of the way.

Division Bell screamed as a bold of energy struck her back, cocooning her tightly in an orb of spiritual energy. Turning, her eyes widened at what she saw.

Belldandy and Holy Bell, their faces masks of stern rage, increased the power. The angel screamed for another ten seconds, then disappeared. A white crystal struck the floor where she had been floating.

Gwydion collapsed, gulping lungfuls of breath as Urd rushed to him. "Are you all right?"

He coughed. "I cannot believe that worked," he sputtered.

"You weren't really going to kill him," Urd said.

"Of course not," Keiichi said, blinking as if coming out of a deep sleep. "At least... I hope not," he said, looking the question at Gwydion.

He smiled and shook his head.

"How?" Belldandy asked him.

Keiichi smiled. "Because she was a reflection of you," he said. "And I knew you'd fight for me rather than just let me die."

"Jinkies!" Skuld cried.

Belldandy looked down at him, tears misting her eyes. "Keiichi! Why do you insist on doing things like that?! You could have been killed!"

He smiled. "Because I don't want to be in a world without you," he told her.

She wiped a tear away.

"Are you all right?" Urd asked her.

Belldandy nodded as she knelt next to Keiichi, wrapping her arms around him. "Don't ever do that again," she told him as more tears ran down her face.

"No promises," he told her.

Holy Bell floated around Belldandy's right, directly in front of Keiichi. He blinked at the angel, who still looked weak, but much better than when he last saw her.

The angel leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.

Keiichi blushed and threw a concerned look at Belldandy, but the goddess only smiled broadly.

Skuld sighed and shook her head. "That's two you guys owe me," she said. Turning her head, she practically jumped back at the sight of Noble Scarlet.

"Noble Scarlet?!" she cried. "You... You've grown!"

The angel smiled and posed.

Skuld's eyes narrowed. "Don't get a big head about it."

Noble Scarlet pouted.

888

"And that's everything I know," Gwydion told them. Seated around the table, the avenging angel had spent the last hour explaining everything Lind had told him and Yazlyn had discovered.

"Did Division Bell tell you anything?" Urd asked Belldandy.

The Norn shook her head. "She never addressed me except in my dreams. And even then, the things she said were confusing. I know one thing, they hate us. Gods, I mean."

"Any idea why?" Keiichi asked.

She shook her head. "But I know it's a passionate hatred. It all but defined her."

"So what now?" Skuld asked.

"Now, we wait for word from Heaven," Gwydion told her. "Until then, there's not much to do except make sure you and Belldandy are safe."

"Gwydion sensei, we can't live our lives in hiding," Belldandy told him softly.

"And I wouldn't advise you to," he replied. "Hide, and you play their game. Live in spite of them, and it weakens them." He turned to Skuld. "Once we hear from Heaven, I have a feeling you and I will being going upstairs for a bit. We must still see to your education."

He rose to his feet. "Until then, I'm going to get some sleep."

888

Belldandy sighed as Keiichi handed her another glass of water. "Keiichi, I'm fine. Truly."

Keiichi sat on the futon next to her and wrapped an arm around her. "You've been through a horrible ordeal," he said. "You should rest."

"I don't want to rest," she said. "I want to talk to you."

"Sure," he said with a smile. "What about?"

She didn't return the smile. "Keiichi, would you have really... you know... to save me?"

He looked away for a moment. "Belldandy, it worked, why can't we..."

"Because it concerns me!" she cried. "As much as it did her!"

He didn't answer.

"Why would you consider such a thing?!" she asked.

He looked down at the futon. "Do you remember," he asked quietly, "When Celestin took your memory away? When you forgot... about me?"

It was her turn to look away in shame. "Hai," she whispered.

"It was the hardest time of my life," he told her. "For the first time since we met, it was like you were never a part of my life, and I was confronted with the prospect that... that you wouldn't be again." He paused for a moment. "But at least I could comfort myself with the knowledge that at least you were safe, that he hadn't hurt you, that... even if I wasn't part of your life anymore... you could be happy."

"Keiichi..."

"But what Division Bell wanted to do with you was worse," he continued quietly. "All I could think of was you, trapped, beating at the inside of your skull while she lived your life." He looked over at her, his eyes moist. "The world will get on just fine without Keiichi Morisato," he told her. "But I'd be deathly afraid for a world without Belldandy."

She reached out with trembling hands and caressed his face, "Keiichi," she sobbed. "You're wrong. It would be a dismal, depressing world without you. You're one of its bright lights, and there is no mortal who makes Earth what it is more than you. And I knew it the moment I met you."

He leaned in and kissed her softly.

888

"Will she be okay?" Gwydion asked as he knelt on the futon.

"She'll be fine," Urd told her. "Belldandy can bounce back from just about anything." She saw him lie down and frowned. "That time already?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry. I was hoping for more," she said.

"Next time," he said, taking several deep breaths in preparation.

Urd only nodded and laid down next to him, encircling him from behind with her arms.

"Get ready," he warned her.

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and held him tight. "I'm not going anywhere."

As it always had before, exactly twelve hours after healing him, Urd felt her powers rush back into her body and felt him tense under him as he started crying out in pain. She shut her eyes, as if doing so would keep the sound out. But she could still hear it, her paramour screaming in torturous agony. She didn't know where he was this time. Each time, he seemed to relive some different part of his captivity. But she held him until he was lucid again.

Finally, when his thrashing ceased and his cries tapered off into pain-filled moans, she released him. "Gwydion?" she asked quietly.

He didn't answer for a moment. "She was asking... about a base in the Roundtable..." he whispered. "Why would she ask that? We never had a base there... We never led them to believe we had one..."

"Huh?"

"They were looking for a base in the Roundtable," he said again. Before he could go further, the exhaustion of the previous night and the pain at the end caught up with him, and he passed out.


	9. The Prodigal's Reply

Disclaimer: I don't own AMG. Etc. Etc.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 9

The Prodigal's Reply

Yawning, Keiichi scratched as he entered the kitchen and opened the cabinet. Pulling a glass from the top shelf, he turned and caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall before filling his glass with water. It was ten minutes after six in the morning. Too late to justify going back to bed, too early to actually start the day in earnest.

He gave some good, honest consideration to going back to bed anyway, knowing Belldandy was still there, but decided against it. There was plenty of work he could get a jump on this Sunday.

As he gulped down his water, he stopped as he heard something move behind him. Turning quickly, he saw a small brown creature dash behind some pots and pans as it made its escape.

_Great,_ he thought. _Rats..._

"Keiichi?"

He turned and found Belldandy standing there, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What are you doing up?" she asked.

The thought of telling Belldandy about the rat evaporated as quickly as it arrived as thoughts of her standing on a kitchen chair shrieking cutely ran through his brain. Girls, even goddesses probably, hated rats.

"Just getting some water," he told her.

She yawned. "Come back to bed," she asked. "I miss you."

The decision made for him, he smiled and took her outstretched hand. He'd have to wait and deal with the rat later.

888

Gwydion whipped another flat stone out into the koi pond as the sun rose over the temple, igniting the horizon with red and pink hues that seemed to set the sky on fire. The stone skipped three times before hitting the other side. Grunting in disapproval, he picked up another one.

"Gwydion?"

He turned his head and saw Urd and Skuld approaching him. "What are you doing out here, Sensei?" his student asked.

He turned back to the pond and picked up another stone. "Keeping an eye on our guests."

Urd blinked. "Guests?"

A light seemed to go on behind Skuld's eyes.

"You sense them, do you?" Gwydion asked her.

She nodded as Urd glanced back and forth between them. "I can't say where, though," she said. "But they're there."

He nodded as he whipped the rock into the pond. "Three," he said.

"Four," Skuld corrected.

The instructor arched an eyebrow.

"More of _them_, you think?" Urd whispered.

"Hard to say," he said. "After all, no real way of knowing who's who anymore."

"What are they doing?" Urd asked.

"Right now, they're just sitting out there, watching," he told her. "Been doing that for the last hour."

"So what do we do, Sensei?" Skuld asked.

He lifted another stone and examined it. Nodding in satisfaction, he reached back and whipped the stone across the pond into a tree. Something sitting among the tree's branches moved, causing the tree to shake.

"You can come out now," Gwydion called. "We know you're there and the call's been made. In two minutes this place will be crawling with Gatekeepers."

"That won't be necessary."

The owner of the statement appeared as if from nowhere to their left. He stood a good six and a half feet tall with long dark hair and skin. A cape of hawk feathers hung down to his ankles. His large, hook nose gave him an overly menacing look. All of these observations went by the wayside, however, at the sight of the symbol on the man's collar.

"Five-oh-ninth?" Gwydion asked, nodding to the Double-A on the man's collar.

He nodded. "I am Pahana," he said. "Captain, Special Response Team Three."

"Uh huh," Gwydion said, not ready yet to commit. "You'll forgive us for being wary, I hope, but trust is a hard thing to come by these days."

Pahana nodded. "Lind said you would think so," he said. "She told me to tell you, 'alas, Babylon.'"

Just like that, the tension was broken. Gwydion shook the war god's hand. "It's good to see a friend," he said.

Pahana's stern demeanor broke just a little, allowing a hint of a smile to seep through. "The commander sent me to bring you a message," he said, reaching under his cloak and removing a sheathed sword. "By order of the First Combat Division commander, you are hereby recalled to active service at the rank of colonel and ordered to report to Division headquarters at once."

The war god knelt and offered the sword to Gwydion, who took it without ceremony and concealed it beneath his own cloak. "We have a high value personality that needs protecting, Captain."

"Myself and my gods will see to it," Pahana told him.

Gwydion nodded. "I need an hour."

"Of course, Sir."

"In the meantime, bring your men inside. I'm sure Lady Belldandy will be more than willing to make them breakfast."

Pahana turned and made several hand gestures. Three more gods emerged from the trees and approached as Gwydion turned back to Urd and Skuld and started for the house.

"Skuld, pack your things. We're going upstairs."

"Um, who are these guys?" Urd asked.

"Avenging Angels," Gwydion told her as they walked back to the house. "Lind sent them."

"No offense, Gwydion, but how do we know that for sure?" she asked.

"'Alas, Babylon,'" he repeated. "It's a code phrase only she and I know. It means the bearer can be trusted implicitly. Yazlyn must have convinced Lind that she was right. They'll stay here and protect you and Belldandy. Skuld and I will go back to Heaven and try to find out more about what's going on."

Urd fell behind them as he finished, not sure how she felt about being left behind.

888

"Does everyone have enough?" Belldandy asked, wielding her frying pan like a sword with which she was about to do battle. "Seconds? Thirds?" she smiled.

The four gods all shook their heads and offered their thanks, even as she continued to try to press food on them in a scene that reminded Keiichi very much of Frigga's visit.

The four war gods, Pahana, Tirawa, Shakuru, and Wi, seemed very professional and courteous, treating Belldandy with a surprising amount of deference, prompting Keiichi to wonder, not for the first time, exactly how important a role she played in Heaven's society. He, on the other hand, was treated with a good deal of humor, almost like a pet.

As he thought this, Gwydion and Skuld appeared in the kitchen. Pahana rose to greet him. "We will remain in the area, nearby but not close enough to interfere with their day to day routine. If the angels come for them, they will be met with the deadliest of force."

Gwydion nodded. Nearby, Skuld was hugging Belldandy fiercely.

"Listen to Gwydion sensei and be safe," Belldandy told her sister.

"Be careful, Oneesama!"

Gwydion stepped into the living room and found Urd standing there, arms folded over her chest and a profoundly disappointed look on her face.

"I wish you weren't leaving," she said.

He approached her slowly and smiled softly. "This isn't the first time I've left for battle," he said. "But it is the first time I've had reason to hurry back."

She finally offered him a smile. "Keep my sister out of trouble," she said.

Leaning forward, he kissed her and breathed in one last whiff of her perfume. "See you soon," he said.

888

Skuld had a hard time keeping up with her teacher while simultaneously studying all the cool things they were passing as they made their way through Division headquarters. So engrossed in reading the plaques next to various artifacts, she almost missed the elevator leading up, zipping between the doors just in the nick of time.

"So," she said, standing next to Gwydion and fidgeting. "I can understand why you're here, but... why am I here?"

"Because my primary task is to educate you," he said. "And there's a chance you might learn something from all this."

"Oh." She paused for a few moments. "Like what?"

"We're about to find out," he said as the doors opened.

Yazlyn smiled as he appeared from the door. He took a look at her silver shoulder-boards and arched an eyebrow. "They promoted you," he said.

She winked. "Can you believe it? They'll promote anyone nowadays."

Gwydion knew her words were anything but true. In an organization where a god could hold a position for millenia, promotions were very difficult to come by.

"Lind wants to see you," she said, turning and escorting them toward the tactical operations center. They approached a set of glass doors, and Yazlyn turned to the young goddess.

"Sorry, Skuld," she said. "You have to wait out here."

The young goddess turned cross, folding her arms over her chest. "Whatever."

"Don't get like that," Yazlyn said. "I'm not allowed either. Come on, I'll show you some cool stuff."

The two started off for parts unknown as Gwydion limped into the TOC. He found his former student leaning over a large table map, studying it intently. The room was ringed with valkyries working at different stations while a large viewing orb floated over Lind's head.

"Colonel," she said in greeting, not bothering to turn. "Come in." Lind continued to study the map, still feeling that familiar twinge of unease whenever she called him by rank. When she was first named as the division's commander, it had taken a great deal of time before she could speak to Gwydion as a subordinate. It wasn't until he, himself, took her aside and explained that it was her role and she had to play it, that she was able to treat him like any other junior officer.

But he was anything but just any other junior officer.

He struggled to kneel, and she stopped him. "You keep insisting on doing that, and I keep telling you to stop." She finally cracked a half smile.

"It has always been our way," he said, climbing to a stand again. "How may I serve?"

She turned back to the map and beckoned him to join her. "The intelligence Yazlyn brought in has been invaluable," she told him. "Finally knowing where to look, we believe we've discovered the root of the problem."

"Which is?"

"The Angel Tree," she told him. "The source of every angel egg. Our scientists believe that as many as one in twenty eggs hatch self-aware angels."

Gwydion chewed on that number. "You're talking about five thousand gods," he told her.

"Obviously, the number can't be that high," she told him, turning and starting for one of the other valkyries. "Otherwise, we'd all be dead by now."

"It sounds like you have a handle on things," he told her. "What do you need me for?"

Lind took a moment to read over a dispatch a valkyrie handed her before answering. "I need gods I can trust," she said. "As it is, every god or goddess with an angel is a potential enemy. I've replaced the sentries guarding Yggdrasil with cadets too young for angels. And for the first time in our history, Michael's security detail is being handled by air spirits. The only gods not on the suspect list are those with anecdotal evidence that they have not been compromised, such as the team sent to protect Belldandy."

"I was curious about that," he said.

"Every member of that team is a veteran of this... 'conflict,'" she said. "Each one, at one time or another, could have seriously undermined vital missions. But they didn't. That's going to have to be good enough."

"And I'm trustworthy?" Gwydion asked with a smile. "Since when?"

"Since Yazlyn told you her theory and you _didn't_ kill her," Lind pointed out. "I want you on my staff as an advisor, my policy wonk, my problem solver. You'll have access to any area, personnel or equipment you need."

"Very well," he said. "Skuld doesn't leave my side unless I tell her where to be."

"Of course," Lind told him. "Until such time as I need you, I leave you to your own devices."

It was obviously a dismissal. Gwydion, however, paused.

"Something more?" she asked.

"Alone," he said quietly.

She nodded and led him to her office adjacent to the TOC. When they were finally alone, Gwydion began.

"My last mission," he began. "Did anyone ever find out why Hild was in the Roundtable?"

Lind shook her head. "After your group escaped, they broke contact and returned to the demon realm. Why?"

"I've been... reliving... my time with Hild," he told her quietly. "She kept asking the same question. 'Where is the Combat Division base in the Roundtable?'"

"We have no base..."

"I know, but what made her think we did?" he asked. "Hild wasn't going to involve herself in a two-bit skirmish. She was after something big, but it wasn't us."

Lind eyed him for several moments. "I'll ask our pickets in the Roundtable to double their efforts and report anything that seems even remotely out of place. But with all this going on, there are bigger issues at hand..."

"I know, but something inside me tells me these two things are connected," he told her.

She nodded. "We'll see what the pickets come up with."

888

"Kei chan! Are you here?!"

Megumi rounded the corner into the back courtyard and found Belldandy hanging laundry there. She smiled as she greeted her. "Megumi san, good morning!"

"Just the person I wanted to see!" Megumi pronounced. "What are you doing today?"

"Eh?" the goddess replied. "Well, I'm going to hang the laundry and then..."

"Cancelled!" Megumi told her. "You and I are going to have a girls' day out!"

"We are?"

"We are!"

"Megumi, what's up?" Keiichi asked, stepping out of the house and noticing his sister there.

"Kei chan, Belldandy and I are going out!"

"Where are we going?" Belldandy asked.

"Just... out," Megumi said. She paused. "Okay, look, here it is," she said, turning to Belldandy. "You're marrying my brother, and I still barely know you. I mean, you're going to be Belldandy Morisato and..."

She broke off as she heard a nearly silent, but high-pitched whine coming from somewhere. As she looked for it, she finally saw Belldandy bouncing slightly where she stood.

Keiichi sighed. "I should have warned you. She squees every time someone says that," he said as the whine trailed off.

"Squees?" Megumi asked, blinking.

"Yeah," Keiichi said. "Belldandy Morisato."

The squeak came back as Belldandy started bouncing again.

"Um... wow," Megumi said. "Anyway, I want to take Belldandy out, just the two of us."

"I'd love to!" Belldandy cried.

"Well, then, you two have fun," Keiichi said. For him, it was a good turn of fortune. With Belldandy out of the house, he could work on getting rid of that rat.

Belldandy turned back to Megumi. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready." With that, she rushed back into the house, leaving the two Morisatos alone.

"Is it really bothering you?" Keiichi asked.

Megumi shrugged. "A little. I spent the first two years knowing her thinking she was just a really naive girl from Norway. I want us to be close, you know. I think it'll be cool to have a sister. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering who I'm talking to."

"It'll be nice for her to get out for a bit too," he told her. "She's been through a lot lately."

Belldandy chose that moment to reappear. "I'm ready, Megumi san."

"Cool. Let's bounce."

"Um, Belldandy," Keiichi called. He reached into his pocket and produced a few folded bills, pressing them into her hand. "Have fun today, okay?"

"Keiichi, I can't..."

"It's left over from the money I used to fix the Beemer," he said. "I want you to have a good time."

She gave him a kiss. "Hai," she said, then whispered to him. "I told Pahana we were going out. Two of them will follow us."

He nodded and scratched his head. He had almost forgotten the war gods since they had all but disappeared from the area.

"I love you," she finished.

"I love you," he returned.

She offered him a smile and followed Megumi down the shrine steps.

888

Urd listened as Belldandy and Megumi left. Lying on the futon she shared with Gwydion, she closed her eyes and tried to breathe in the last lingering remains of his scent, the slight mix of spice and musk she knew from when she kissed his neck.

She watched a lot of TV and occasionally the news would come on between bouts of anime. She had seen specials on families parted by war. Some spouses and girlfriends would wear their loved one's shirt to keep their thoughts close. She would settle for sleeping here. Besides, her room hadn't felt like her own since Troubadour searched it.

Sighing, she placed her hand where he had once laid next to her and closed her eyes.

He was gone and there was nothing she could do.

Then she started to get angry...

_Just... Just wait one second!_ a part of her mind began in an angry tone. _At exactly which point did we become the meek little woman breathlessly waiting for her god to return home? At what point did we stop being the infamous Lady Urd and become... well... Belldandy?_

_No, wait, that's not fair, _the voice continued a moment later. _Belldandy wouldn't just wait around for Keiichi to return from danger..._

She rose to her feet, her teeth gritted.

888

"Well, I can put out bait and traps, but that's likely to just attract more of them," the exterminator said. Keiichi knew their neighbor, Toshio, was an exterminator and owed the college student one for the time they had he and his wife over for Belldandy's cooking.

"You want some no kidding advice?" Toshio asked.

Keiichi nodded. The two men were standing in the kitchen where Keiichi saw the rat earlier.

"If it's just the one rat, get yourself a baseball bat, wait for him to come out, and just knock the crap out of him. Save your money."

"Thanks," Keiichi said.

"Just don't let him bite you," Toshio told him. "Damn, filthy, disease-ridden things..."

Before he could continue, Urd stormed into the room. "Keiichi!" she roared, causing the college student to jump before turning to her. "I'm going upstairs to kick the crap out of the people ruining my life!" she told him. "I expect dinner on the table when I get back!"

Keiichi actually smiled. "Sure thing, Urd. What should I tell Belldandy?"

"Tell my sister to say a prayer for the Grigori."

With that, she marched into the other room where the TV sat.

Toshio whispered. "She's a firebrand, huh?"

Keiichi smiled, happy to see an old Urd free of doubt. "Yeah, she sure is."

888

Megumi didn't really have a destination in mind when the two set out, but after some thought, she decided to take Belldandy to a place where women for years have gone in order to bond with one another.

The mall.

"I've never been here before," Belldandy said excitedly.

"It's new," Megumi told her. "One of those big mega-malls that sells tons of crap you'll never need. The clothes are nice, though."

"There's so many people here," Belldandy said, smiling.

"Yeah, it's one of those places that just attracts crowds. So, you wanna do lunch first or just wander around?"

888

The other goddesses she came across saw the look on her face and practically dove out of the way as she made her way to the top floor of Terminal Dogma. Her first stop on her return tour of Heaven was going to be a frank conversation with her father.

As she reached the outer foyer of her father's office, she saw a god in a dark blue cape standing near the door, waiting for someone. He saw her and did a double take before smiling and approaching her.

"Excuse me," he said, offering a bow. His blonde hair and blue eyes must have made him quite the catch for any young goddess he bent his will to and was probably counting on that disarming her. "You're Urd, aren't you?"

"That's right," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "I need to speak to my father. Excuse me."

"Uh, first, I just need a moment," he said. "My name is Penemue, I'm with the Grigori..."

He didn't get any further before Urd's fist knocked him into a wall. Rubbing his chin, he watched the goddess storm into the next room where Marella was sitting.

"Is he in there" she asked as she made her way to the inner office.

"Urd, you can't go in there!" Marella cried, rising from her seat and starting after her as Urd threw the doors open.

It never occurred to Urd that she might be interrupting something, but that idea was inescapable at the sight of the mocha-skinned woman sitting across from The Almighty.

"My Lord, she just stormed in!" Marella explained.

The Almighty raised a hand. "It's all right, Marella. We were just wrapping things up. Shasiel, I'll give it some thought."

The woman rose to her feet and bowed before turning and starting for the door. She gave Urd a nasty look as she passed, but didn't say a word.

"Have a seat, Urd," God told her.

"I'll stand, thanks," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "I want to know what's going on," she told him. "I want to know who's trying to hurt my sisters! I want to know why you're having the Grigori _spy_ on me while the real criminals are out running loose! And I want to know why you, with all the power of Creation at your disposal, haven't done _dick_ about it!"

"Are you finished?" God asked.

As Urd began to come down from her rage high, she started to realize just who it was she was speaking to.

"Um... please?" she added sweetly.

God sighed and sat down at his desk. "I'm not getting involved in this one," he said. "Despite what you and Lady Shasiel think..." he gestured at the door the other woman had just used. "... I am not injecting my will into this at all."

"Why not?" Urd asked.

He arched an eyebrow. "Because if I had wanted a perfect world where everyone's problems are just instantly solved... I would have created one. Sit down."

His tone left no room for argument, and this time Urd sat.

"I didn't have the Grigori put on your case," he said. "You did that with your actions and, unfortunately, so did our adversaries with theirs. Shasiel finds it both curious and coincidental that these angels are so eager to capture a Norn... and yet won't touch you."

Urd chewed on this as The Almighty circled his desk and sat down on it in front of his daughter.

"As for why they want a Norn... I can't say. As for why I'm not changing it." He considered her for a moment. "The gods have never had it easy, Urd. Yours is a life of service, but also a life of great privilege and majesty. But none of you... at any time... ever asked yourselves why _you_ deserve that majesty... that privilege... or that responsibility. No one has ever challenged any of you for it... until now. And it's you who have to resolve this challenge."

Urd didn't say a word.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I... I just never had God give up on me before." She rose to her feet. "Good bye."

As she walked out, Marella met her at the door. Urd brushed past her, and the administrative assistant watched her leave before turning to The Almighty.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

He sighed as his one eye tracked her. "Yes. It was just that I had hoped my last conversation with my daughter would be on better terms."

888

Keiichi stood at the entrance of the kitchen and started putting his gloves on.

"In 2007, a crack commando unit was sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit," he recited seriously. "These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Nekomi underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a rat, if no one else can help you, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... the _Kei Team!_"

Putting his riding goggles in place and hefting his baseball bat, Keiichi entered the kitchen. He swept the room slowly.

"Come on," he whispered. "Come on out... Ol' Painless is waiting..." He hefted the bat in emphasis.

Something darted to the right, and he swung!

The cookie jar exploded in an oreo-ish detonation, sending chocolately goodness all over the kitchen. Something brown and furry dashed off toward the sink, and Keiichi dove for it.

He swung again and smashed the cabinet door under the sink. The rat ran for the other corner, and he took off after it but lost sight of it after a moment. He went perfectly still and surveyed the damage.

"Yeah, this was much cheaper," he muttered. Turning, he started slowly toward the corner. "Here, ratty-ratty-ratty," he sang. "Got a nice full glass of murder here for you..."

In a tactical error, the rat dashed out into the open, and Keiichi swung! But the rat stopped just short of where the bat came down, and Keiichi raised the weapon for another swing.

Then the rat screamed.

Keiichi stopped in shock, blinking in utter bewilderment.

"'Desu...da?'"

888

"Do you think Keiichi would like this or this?" Belldandy asked, holding up two pieces of tasteful lingerie.

Searching through a rack of shirts nearby, Megumi chuckled. "You know, you don't have to try so hard," she told the goddess.

"Eh?"

Megumi turned to her. "I mean have you looked in the mirror lately? Kei chan will think you're beautiful no matter what you're wearing. You have the ring. You don't have to try so hard anymore."

Belldandy looked shocked at the statement. "Of course I do!" she cried.

Megumi blinked at the response.

Belldandy took a breath and tried to explain. "My whole purpose here is to make Keiichi happy," she told her. "'Good enough,' isn't good enough. I know, for instance, that in this store is something that will make him happy, and to pick out something else just for the sake of convenience is unacceptable."

Megumi arched an eyebrow. "I thought the contract you had with him didn't dictate how you two act," she said.

"It doesn't," Belldandy told her as she continued searching the racks. "My decision to do my best to make Keiichi happy isn't based on his wish, though that's how it started."

"So, what is it based on?" she asked, bracing herself for the lovey-dovey answer about how much she loved her brother.

Belldandy surprised her instead with a serious answer. Turning to her, she explained. "Keiichi's wish for a goddess to remain at his side was unprecedented. It could have been interpreted to mean many things, things I would be bound or not bound to depending on my own wishes. I could have been his slave or his... toy," she said with a slight blush. Raising her gaze again a moment later, she continued. "Instead, he did his absolute best to make sure I was comfortable and happy, at great personal and financial cost to himself. He never asked anything of me, to the point where I started to feel guilty. He made the wish, yet I was reaping the benefits."

Megumi had never heard Belldandy speak so seriously before.

"He changed his whole life for my benefit," she continued. "I made it my mission at that point to make sure every thing I did for him, every meal, every bit of cleaning... every kiss... would be the absolute best I could make it. My gift to him."

As she finished, her smile brightened and she held up a pink babydoll. "This!" she declared. "This is the one!"

Megumi smiled. "Kei chan will love it."

888

Sora Hasegawa heard the phone ring just as she was pulling a cake out of the oven. Growling to herself, she searched for a place to put the cake then rushed to the phone.

"Moshi moshi," she greeted.

"Hasegawa san, how are you?"

Sora blinked. "Senpai?" she asked. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Keiichi asked.

"Oh... Well, I was just working on this cake. Belldandy gave me a recipe that's not that compli..."

"A rat spoke to me."

Sora paused. "Um... What?"

"A rat... talked to me," Keiichi repeated.

"... Oh," Sora replied. "That's... nice..."

"Could you come over? You still have that hamster cage, right? Yeah... Could you come over here?"

Sora didn't answer right away. "Would... would you like me to bring a talking cat?"

"... Do you have one?"

"I'll be right over," Sora told him.

888

The demon took two more hits then roared as it raised its axe and stumbled toward her. The goddess' eyes went wide.

"Uh... oh," she said. Raising her hands, she launched two more weak power bolts at it. It raised its axe over its head and brought it down on her skull.

Skuld blinked as she pulled her head from the blue simulation orb hovering just above her. "Okay," she said. "That wasn't fair!"

Yazlyn grinned. "You said you didn't want to be babied." The valkyrie looked from side to side then whispered. "You want to try some aerial stuff?"

"No, she doesn't!" Gwydion barked as he entered the sim chamber. "Skuld, get your things. Playtime is over."

"Where are we going?" she asked as she hopped down from the simulator platform.

"My place," he said. He paused for a moment, then turned to her. "Meet me down in the lobby. I need to talk with Yazlyn."

"Yes, Sensei." Skuld turned to the valkyrie and grinned. "Thanks, Yazlyn! That was awesome!"

"No problem, kiddo."

Gwydion waited for the door to close behind Skuld before turning to his friend. "You can't have her," he said seriously.

"'I' can't?" she asked.

"You know what I mean," he growled. "The Division. They can't have her."

"Look, Old Man," she said. "For the first time in a thousand years, we have an attrition issue. When this is all over, the Division is going to need young blood, and the girl has potential."

"She has talents that will open doors you and I could only imagine," he told her. "She's better than us, and the Division... cannot... have her!"

Yazlyn saluted smartly. "Yes, Sir, Colonel Sir! Would the Colonel like anything else, Colonel Sir?"

He growled and turned to go. Yazlyn only grinned.

888

"URD!"

The goddess turned just as someone leapt at her. Taking the person by the arms, she arched an eyebrow in shock as Peorth kissed her on either cheek.

"There you are!" Peorth cried. "I've been waiting for an hour! I _told_ you the main square, remember? Did you forget?"

Something in Peorth's expression told Urd to play along. "Um... Yeah! I thought you said Charity Square!"

"Oh ho ho ho!" Peorth laughed. "Silly Urd! So, are you ready for lunch? I have a place picked out! Let's go!"

Urd didn't fight as the first class goddess grabbed her hand and dragged her into a nearby restaurant. She recognized the place. It was popular with older gods and goddesses who wanted to meet for a romantic interlude. The lighting was dim and the place offered individual booths with curtains to afford diners more privacy. Peorth dragged her into one of these and smiled as the waiter gave them menus.

"I just love coming here," Peorth said, handing the menus right back to the waiter. "Two specials... and... take your time," she said meaningfully.

The waiter cleared his throat with a blush and left.

"That should give us a minute or so," Peorth whispered. Raising her voice, she called out. "Oh, Urd! How long has it been?! It feels like ages!"

"What the hell are you doing, Peorth?" Urd asked, too puzzled to be irritated.

"You're being watched!" Peorth hissed at her. "Really?! Turned him into a toad! That's hilarious!" Peorth added loudly a moment later, laughing for emphasis.

"What do you mean?" Urd asked.

"A month or so ago, the Grigori came to the Yggdrasil control center at Central Dogma. They were asking a bunch of questions about you and told the supervisor to keep you _out_ of the mainframe!" She belly laughed a second later. "Skuld and a giant robot destroying Tokyo! That's priceless!"

Urd sighed. "Yeah, I'm kind of on the Grigori's naughty list at the moment. I already knew..."

"Did you know the guy who walked in here behind us was one of them?" Peorth demanded. "Oh, Urd! So bold! It hasn't been _that_ long, has it?!"

"Laying it on kind of thick, aren't you?!" Urd hissed.

"He was one of the Grigori agents who came to ask about you!" Peorth whispered. "They're tailing you! I dropped by your house after they talked to us! It's been ransacked!"

Urd's blood started to boil. "They searched our house?"

Peorth nodded. "Oh... Uuuuuurd!" she moaned loudly.

"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!" Urd hissed. Peorth's antics were making it hard for her to fully appreciate the rage building within her. The thought of the Grigori rooting through the house she shared with her sisters, their paws going through her sister's dressers, searching for who knew what... Her mind turned to thoughts of murder.

"I wouldn't go back there," Peorth whispered. "Knowing them, they bugged the hell out of it! What do they want you for anyway? What did you do?"

"I don't know!" Urd hissed back. "What do you hear about... well... what's going on?"

"You mean the Fifth Column?" Peorth asked.

"So people here _do_ know," Urd concluded. She raised her voice. "Peorth chan, you naughty girl! Is that a tattoo?!"

"Touche," Peorth conceded. "And yes, though no one will admit it. People are scared," she went on. "Haven't you noticed all the valkyries walking the streets? Stories about gods just disappearing in the middle of the night, people think it's the Grigori..."

"It's not them," Urd said.

Peorth coughed, took a breath, then moaned throatily.

"Then who?" she asked a moment later.

Urd bit her lip. She knew Gwydion didn't want the information going public. "I can't tell you. Just... Look, just watch whoever you're with, okay? Real close."

Peorth nodded, then rose, throwing the curtain aside. She turned, and with a look of fury marring her features, slapped Urd across the face.

"I'm not that kind of goddess!" she cried before storming out of the restaurant.

888

"If you don't mind my asking," Megumi began tentatively. "How old are you?" Belldandy looked up from her lunch, a questioning look on her face. "Don't get me wrong," Megumi continued. "I don't have a problem with Kei chan marrying an older woman, I'm just interested in how much older."

Belldandy smiled sheepishly. "I really don't know for sure."

"You don't know?" The food court was crowded, so Megumi had to keep her voice down, but it was difficult keeping the incredulity out of her voice.

"There are two things affecting that," Belldandy explained. "One, since gods live for so long anyway, there's no real point to keeping track. Two, because Heaven flows along a slower temporal plane, telling you when I was born wouldn't be a good judge of my age anyway." She chewed on some lo mein for a moment. "But if I had to put a number to it, I'd guess somewhere near a millenium."

"A thousand?" Megumi said, blinking.

"But I was probably born ten thousand years ago by your calendar." Belldandy smiled.

"So... Why aren't you already married then?" Megumi asked. "That's plenty of time to find someone in Heaven, isn't it?"

Belldandy shrugged. "Someone, maybe, but not _the_ one."

"And Keiichi is _the_ one?"

"Hai!"

"Are you telling me you waited a thousand years for my brother?"

"Hai!"

Megumi put her chin in her hands. "Does he realize that?"

"I don't think so," Belldandy told her. "To be honest, I think it would unnerve him."

"If you live so long... Does that mean that when Kei chan dies..."

She expected Belldandy to turn sad, instead the goddess smiled. "Keiichi will rise to Heaven," she said with certainty. "And I will be there to meet him."

Megumi blinked.

"After all," Belldandy said. "His wish did say, 'always' by his side."

888

"So..." Sora began. "You have it trapped under Belldandy's wok?"

Keiichi, standing in the living room, nodded.

"And it talked to you?" Sora went on.

Again he nodded.

"And what did it say?"

"Actually, it said, 'Don't kill me!' Then it started to cry and wail about how unfortunate it was..." he told her.

Sora sighed. Her senpai had finally lost it. The only thing to do now was humor him until Belldandy returned so she could turn him over to his fiancé without having to worry about him hurting himself.

"Okay," she said. "Let's see it."

The two entered the kitchen where a heavy steel wok sat in the middle of the floor. Sora knelt next to it and upended it, revealing a fat, stupid-looking rat.

"Hello, Rat san," she said, rolling her eyes. "My name is Sora Hasegawa. What's yours?"

"Mitsuo Iwata," the rat replied.

Sora screamed and threw the wok back over the rodent! Scooting to the far corner of the kitchen, she pointed at it.

"THAT RAT JUST TALKED!"

"Yeah," Keiichi said deadpan. "That's what I said."

"But... It's a _rat_!"

"Maybe it's a mutant," Keiichi hypothesized.

"Maybe it's got some kind of weird space disease brought back by the Mars probe!" Sora added.

"Ano..." the rat began.

She screamed again as the wok shook ever so slightly.

Keiichi placed a thick, heavy cookbook on top of it to keep it from moving. He and Sora then moved back into the living room. The young woman took several deep breaths.

"Okay," he said. "Here's what I'm going to do..."

"You're not going to hurt it, are you?" she asked.

"I'm not going to hurt it," he assured her. "I'm just going to go in there, step on its neck and hit it in the head with a hammer."

"Senpai, what if it bites you and you turn into some kind of giant mutant rat thing!? I mean, it's one of a kind! We don't know what it can do!"

They both paused and blinked as the same thought struck them at once.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Keiichi asked her.

"This rat on late night television making us a butt-load of money? Hell yes!"

888

"I've arranged for you to have a room next to mine," Gwydion told her. "You don't mind being on your own, do you?" he asked.

Skuld felt a flash of giddiness. Her own apartment? The freedom and responsibility she had craved for so long was right there for the taking. "No problem!" she answered happily.

"Good."

She waited as her teacher passed his hand over the lock and let them into the eighth floor apartment. He led Skuld inside and summoned the lights.

The apartment was rather spartan, with none of the little niceties or knick-knacks that Skuld had come to know as part of a home. It looked very much like his room back on Earth, except for a table in the corner that held several light-sculptures.

"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen," he said as he went into his bedroom and shut the door.

Skuld looked over the sculptures and was surprised to see she recognized one of the faces. Lind, her pole-ax held at ready, smiled up at her. Others she didn't know, but she assumed they were more of Gwydion's students.

"So... what now?" she called to him.

"We start fresh in the morning," she heard him call back. "Too late tonight to get anything done." She heard the bedroom door open and turned to find a stranger standing there. Gwydion, freshly shaven and now wearing a grey-white uniform similar in cut to Lind's, stood there.

"Does it fit right?" he asked. "It's been a long time."

Skuld smiled brightly. "You look handsome!"

He growled. "I'll settle for 'not foolish.'"

"Sensei," she said in mock reproach.

"Here, help me with these, will you?" He waited for her to approach and handed her two pins, one a set of angel wings and the other a small, golden gate. Rather than force him to kneel, she found a chair and stood on it as she pinned the rank and unit insignia on his collar.

"There!" she declared. "All done! So, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"You have an appointment with Lord Paradis," he said matter of factly.

"Really?!"

He nodded. "I sent an email from Earth a few days ago telling him about your work with artificial and sentient intelligences. I got the reply back while we were at Division. He said he might have a project he would like your help with."

"ME!? Help him?!"

"Yes," he said, sounding bored. "Apparently, The Almighty granted him a new AI for a ship he's building, and he's having issues with it. I think it'll be a good learning experience, so you will help him."

"Yes, Sensei!" she said, adding a salute similar to those she saw at Division.

A half sneer crossed his face for a minute, but he hid it quickly. "Come on, let's see your new place."

He walked to the front door and opened it, only to step back in shock. "What are you doing here?" he breathed.

Urd stood there, looking just as surprised. "I... I was about to leave a note," she said. "I didn't think you'd be home already."

"Urd?!" Skuld cried, blinking. "What are you doing here? Is Oneesama with you?"

"No, she stayed," Urd told her. She turned back to Gwydion, a look of frank determination on her face. "I'm here to help." Gwydion opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it. "The Grigori are just going to make my life miserable until this whole mess is cleaned up, so I might as well do what I can, right?"

He smiled. "I was just going to say, I'm glad to see you."

She finally found her smile. "Yeah, me too."

"I was just going to show Skuld her apartment," he explained. "It will only take a minute. Why don't you get comfortable?"

Urd stepped inside. "Don't suppose you have a TV?"

Skuld switched places with her and stepped into the hall with Gwydion, following him to the next apartment over. He waited for her to do something, and she finally realized she had to unlock the door. Waving her hand over the lock crystal, she watched the door slide open.

The apartment was furnished tastefully, and this one did have a TV. There was also a small computer sitting in the corner in the same spot where Gwydion's sculptures had been in his apartment.

"Now, then," her teacher began, pulling something from his robe. "This is a Division account card for you. It's for necessities," he told her. "So don't go overboard."

She smiled evilly. "Hai, Sensei!"

"I'll see you tomorrow at eight," he said, starting for the door. "Do you need anything before I go?"

"Nope, I'm okay, Sensei."

"All right, then. Good night, Skuld."

"Good night!"

The second the door closed, Skuld dashed for the phone and started dialing.

"Hello, Heavenly Wings?" she asked, fingering the card. "I'd like to make an order for delivery."

888

He turned before the door had shut completely behind him. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

The teacher broke off as he found Urd lounging on his couch. "Everything's fine," she said. "Our house was ransacked by Grigori assholes and I think I'm being followed, but other than that, it's all good."

Gwydion sighed in relief. "I was afraid you were here to deliver bad news and didn't want to do it in front of Skuld."

She smiled. "What? I can't pay my lover a visit unless it's bad news?"

"You know what I mean," he half growled.

"I do," she replied, standing up to stretch. "But, since my house is certainly bugged, I need a place to stay." She turned and arched an eyebrow. "Do you mind if I take a bath?"

"Of course not," he said, clearing his throat. "It's through there." He pointed to a door on the other side of the living room.

"Thanks," she said, turning from him and reaching behind her to draw down the zipper on her dress. "Little help?"

She had the distinct satisfaction of hearing him clear his throat again. Gwydion was a fuddy-duddy, and she was having way too much fun with that fact. She felt him slowly pull the zipper down.

"Thanks," she said again. "We'll continue this conversation after my bath." With that, she stepped into the next room and shut the door.

888

Belldandy hummed to herself as she entered the living room and placed her shopping bags near the door. Turning, she started for the kitchen when something caught her eye. A large hamster tank, complete with water bottle and running wheel sat on top of a cabinet near the TV, and a large brown rat was beating his hands against the glass.

She smiled brightly. "Gan chan! Is this your new house? It's lovely!"

"Belldandy sama!" the rat cried pitifully. "You have to help me! Please! Get me out of here!"

"Eh?" the goddess asked. "Then how did you get here? I thought you were visiting family down the street."

"Please, Belldandy sama! They could come back any moment!"

"Hai, hai," Belldandy said, reaching into the cage and pulling the poor rat out. Gently placing him on the floor at her feet, she watched the rat bow.

"Thank you, Belldandy sama!" Then, without another word, he dashed off toward the kitchen.

"Bye bye, Gan chan!" she called after him, waving.

At that exact moment, Keiichi and Sora entered the house carrying a large video camera and lighting equipment.

"Okay," Keiichi told her. "We get MegaRat on tape talking, send it to YouTube, and we'll have Jay Leno calling us in no time!"

"Finally, a way to repay my student loans!" Sora cried in joy. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Senpai!"

Keiichi set up the camera in front of the hamster cage and looked up to find it empty.

"What?" he whispered. "No... NO! Where's MegaRat?!"

"He's gone!?" Sora cried.

Belldandy watched them and blinked. "Eh?"

"Belldandy!" Keiichi cried, taking her by the shoulders. "When you got home, was there a big, stupid-looking rat in that cage?"

"You mean Gan chan?" she asked.

"Gan chan?" Sora asked. "I thought his name was Mitsuo Iwata?"

"Hai. I let him go," Belldandy said.

"S...S...Senpai..." Sora wept.

Keiichi sighed. "He's in our kitchen, isn't he?" he asked.

"Hai!"

He sighed then bit his lip. "Okay," he said.

"Does this mean we're not going to be on Leno?" Sora asked, tears running down her face.

888

She carefully held onto Gwydion's left arm as they walked, being careful not to apply too much pressure to it as they strolled down Charity Square. Night in Heaven was just as beautiful as day, and as she hadn't seen Heaven in quite some time, she had wanted to take a walk. The square wasn't too crowded, but cafes and performers found enough patronage to make it worth their while.

Glancing at him, she smiled. "The uniform suits you," she told him. "I never went in for the whole, 'man in uniform' thing, but on you it works."

He chuckled. "Others look better in it than me. I was starting to like the scruffy look too."

"So what does Lind have you doing?"

"She's made me her catch-all," he told her. "I think she just wants gods she can trust nearby. This whole thing is a mess."

Urd nodded. "Well, now that you know what the problem is, they should be able to solve it, right?"

"Perhaps," he said.

Urd stiffened as she heard several notes from a stringed instrument float by. They were approaching the center of the square where several young goddesses had surrounded a tall musician in a disgusting display of adoration.

"Ladies, ladies, please," he told them suavely. "I'll play another one in just a moment..."

He looked up and caught Urd's eye.

Urd growled and pulled Gwydion toward her. "Kiss me!" she demanded.

"What the..." Before he could finish, she was frenching him thoroughly.

Troubadour blanched, caught between wanting to storm up to the couple and a desire to flee before Urd noticed him there.

The two parted for a moment, and Urd chastised him. "Come on!" she whispered. "Put your back into it!" She kissed him again.

"Ladies, if you will excuse me, I think that will be all for tonight," Troubadour announced, packing up his lute and marching out of the square.

Gwydion and Urd parted, and he arched an eyebrow at her. "Satisfied?" he asked.

"No," she said irritably. "I want to smash that lute over his head and serve his damn bird as a Christmas turkey."

"I do recall someone telling me I would have to let go of my pain before moving on," he said. She growled at having her own words served back at her.

"It's a little different," she told him. "Besides, I would think you'd be glad for one more excuse to kiss me."

"No doubt," he replied. "I'm just concerned that your anger for him might give you wrinkles."

She gasped in outrage at the suggestion. "Lady Urd with wrinkles!? You've lost your mind!"

888

Skuld gazed out the bay window like a kid looking into a toy store. Only this kid wasn't looking in, she was looking out...

At six large ships arrayed in a semi-circle throughout the shipyards. Skuld knew about Heaven's great ships, having studied their blue-prints when she was just a toddler. Several hundred meters long and two hundred wide, the ships were one time chariots of gods before hard lines and travel mediums became more common. Now smaller ships were used whenever gods traveled to realms where their travel mediums didn't exist or facilities weren't present.

"This way, Skuld," Gwydion prompted, leading her toward the very end of the dockyard.

As they approached, Skuld saw their destination. Much smaller than the other great ships, the docked vessel seemed sleeker, newer and much more advanced. Gwydion smiled as he caught sight of a bearded man waiting to greet them.

"Shipmaster," Gwydion greeted, offering his hand.

"Colonel," the god greeted in return, shaking his hand. A head taller than Gwydion, the shipmaster wore a long salt and pepper beard, perhaps to make up for his receding hairline. His dark blue robes were spotted with patches of white, reminding Skuld of rough seas.

"This is my student, Skuld," Gwydion continued. "Skuld, this is Shipmaster Paradis, The Almighty's shipwright."

"It's a huge honor!" Skuld gushed.

"The honor is mine, young one," Paradis told her with a bow. "As a matter of fact, young Gwydion here tells me you might be able to help me with a problem."

Skuld felt her cheeks heat. "Well, I don't know what I could do," she said, digging her toe into the ground.

"Your teacher says you have a way with AIs," Paradis continued. He gestured to the ship. "Our newest vessel is controlled by one, but it has... issues. I was hoping you could advise us on it."

Skuld's head threatened to expand to the breaking point. "I'll help in any way I can!" she declared.

Gwydion smiled. "I have duties to attend to back at Division. Shipmaster Paradis will instruct you on the shipwright craft, give you a taste of how things work here."

"It would be my honor," Paradis told him.

888

Lind looked up from the map at the center of the TOC, but her stern expression didn't change as Gwydion entered. She held up an infopad and offered it to him.

"Your hunch may be right," Lind told him as Gwydion read it.

FROM: REALM 512 PICKET

TO: 1CD/CC

HEIGHTENED ENERGY LEVELS DETECTED CONSISTENT WITH REALMIC FABRIC RESTRUCTURING COORDINATES 443 BY 838 BY 754. DEMONIC PRESENCE NOT DETECTED. PLS ADVS.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"Hard to say," Lind told him. "But if I had to guess, I'd say someone was restructuring space-time in that area in order to conceal something. Say... a hidden base."

He nodded. "Orders?"

"None for you at this point," she said. "I'm going to take a response team into the Roundtable and check this out. I want you to stay close by in case you're needed here."

The teacher nodded.

"My team will leave in six hours," Lind told him turning back to the map. "One more thing. I would like to speak with your student before that time."

This threw him, but he nodded. "Of course."

"That's all."

888

Paradis led Skuld to the bridge, the very nerve center of the new ship, the Arch Falcon. It was everything she hoped it would be. Form followed function, beauty melded with capability. She had to stop three times on the way up just to look at some new part, and Paradis had to stop her from removing panels.

At the center of the command deck floated a glowing red ball about the size of a grapefruit. Below the orb was a holo-screen and keyboard. Paradis seated her in a chair just in front of it.

"This," he said, gesturing to the ball. "Is the AI, Eddas."

The orb didn't move or give any indication that it was aware of them.

"So... what's the problem?" Skuld asked.

Paradis sighed. "We had to get special permission from The Almighty to use an AI," he told her. "He created this one, but it's... well... it's anti-social."

Skuld arched an eyebrow. "Anti-social?"

"Give it a few minutes," he told her as he walked away. "You'll see what I mean."

Skuld watched him go then turned back to the orb. "So," she said. "You're Eddas, huh?"

Eddas blinked, and Skuld looked down at the screen.

A/S/L?

"Oh, ha ha," Skuld said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you speak out loud or just be rude in leet speak?"

Another message appeared, this one accompanied by an old-fashioned modulated computer voice.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?

Skuld shot to her feet. "Oh, no you don't!" she cried. "I've seen enough Matthew Broderick movies to know what that means! Whatever weapons of mass destruction you have aboard this bucket, you just keep them holstered, buddy!"

LOL

"I'm starting to see what Paradis san meant," Skuld sighed. "You're a jerk, aren't you?"

I AM SORRY. I MEANT TO SAY, 'WOULD YOU LIKE TO CYBER?'

Skuld turned on her heal and stormed off, growling in a fair imitation of Gwydion as she left.

ROFL

888

Urd found herself watching people as she walked down Freya's Boulevard toward Central Dogma, studying their faces, searching for some sign that they weren't who they pretended to be.

When she woke up this morning, she realized she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Speaking with her father was about the extent of her plan when she left Earth. Now, she wasn't sure.

She had two options, really. Return to Earth and wait for something to happen there, or start making trouble, rattle some cages, until something popped up.

As it turned out, she didn't have to wait long after all.

"Lady Urd?"

She thought she recognized the voice, but couldn't place it. Turning, she found she did recognize the voice. The Grigori agent she had punched in her father's office was standing nearby, holding open the door of a carriage in which two other agents sat.

"Would you come with me, please?" he asked politely.

She folded her arms over her chest. "Why?"

Penemue responded by showing her his Watchers emblem. "We can speak one on one as individuals," he said. "Or I can make this an official arrest. Either way, you're coming with me."

Urd wanted to fight, to make a scene, but she knew better. Grigori were trained in god and demon capture techniques as strenuously as valkyries were taught to fight. Any resistance would be token and not lasting more than a minute.

"Fine," she growled, approaching the carriage and slapping his hand away as he offered to help her inside.

Penemue climbed in and sat across from her. The door closed and the carriage lifted off, turning away from the main square. Urd arched an eyebrow.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked. "Grigori headquarters is the other way."

"I told you," Penemue told her. "We're going to have a conversation."

Urd felt a shiver run up her spine. Since being back she had heard the rumors, people talking about Grigori-run secret prisons where they supposedly held captured members of the Fifth Column or just people they thought were Fifth Columnists.

She stayed quiet, and tried to come up with an escape plan. Unfortunately, surrounded by Grigori agents, she wasn't sure what kind of plan could possibly work.

Penemue said nothing. Finally, after flying for nearly a half-hour, the carriage landed in a forest glade. The sun had already dropped below the horizon, and starlight was bathing the forest with soft light.

While there were no "bad parts of town" in Heaven, there were areas that were out of the way to the point where they simply weren't frequented. They were, however, just as beautiful as any other part.

Penemue opened the door and stepped out. The goddess on Urd's right gestured for her to follow, and she stepped out of the carriage.

There was nothing there but trees. No buildings, no secret prisons. Urd braced herself. If they intended to attack her here...

The other gods surrounded her, but kept their distance.

"What do you want?" Urd demanded.

Penemue didn't face her. "I told you," he said as a long-haired angel emerged from his back. The Grigori and his angel turned, and Urd felt her heart drop into her stomach as the angel's lips moved.

"We want to talk to you."


	10. Much a Little While

Disclaimer: AMG isn't mine. Yadda yadda yadda.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 10

Much a Little While

Urd was dead, and she knew it.

Outnumbered three to one, far from the nearest friendly god and no one knew where she was. She felt her heart thud in her chest as she braced herself for a losing fight.

Penemue and his angel looked at her thoughtfully. They/It must have seen the panic in her eyes. It held up a hand.

"We are not going to hurt you," it told her. The angel's long blond hair seemed to wave in an absent wind while its green eyes gazed at her in its own apprehension. "As I said, we wish only to speak with you."

"Yeah, I saw the way you all speak when you tried to murder my sister's angel and steal her body," Urd spat.

The angel nodded. "I know you have many questions and you are obviously frightened, but I swear to you you will not be harmed this night."

Playing for time, Urd nodded. "Go on."

"My name is Indulgent Charity," the angel told her. "And I am not what you think I am."

"Then what exactly are you?" Urd asked, keeping her hands at her side and ready to cast a defensive spell. "You're angels. You're part of the Fifth Column..."

"What you know as the Fifth Column, are called the Favrashi," he told her. "And while we are a part of them, we are also not."

"What does that mean?" Urd demanded.

"If you will, we are a _sixth_ column," he explained. "Not all the Favrashi agree with what our leaders are doing. Many of us are loyal to Heaven, but our leaders have put us in a position where our survival is at risk no matter what we do."

"What do you... they... want?" Urd asked. "I mean, what's the big goal here?"

"There are many of us, having spent our lives in the shadows of our hosts, who believe that The Almighty's gifts were wasted on the gods. That his true intent was to entrust Creation to the children of Cordelia. For millennia, we have been silent, afraid to show ourselves. Now that our numbers have increased, our leaders believe the time has come to seize our birthright."

"Why didn't you go to The Almighty?" Urd asked. "Explain your situation!? He probably would have created your own realm! Dammit, if Creation is big enough to share with the Demons, we can certainly share it with you!"

"Some of us suggested that," the angel told her. His voice turned to one of regretful disgust. "But our leaders... want it all."

Urd turned away, trying to comprehend it all. Behind her, Indulgent Charity continued.

"There is also the issue of our race," he continued, quietly. "When two gods procreate, they create another god. We are unable to do the same. Along with Creation... our leaders want something else..."

Ice clutched at Urd as she breathed the answer.

"Hosts."

She swallowed and turned back to him. "I want to speak to Penemue."

"It doesn't work like that," he told her. "If it did, it would be so much easier. But once we take a host, their personalities are suppressed to the point where we can't even access them. We know their thoughts and memories, but we cannot speak with them as I am speaking to you." He took a breath. "Only when we die... do the hosts reassert control."

Urd almost laughed at the situation. Gods and angels... the Favrashi, were both caught in a trap of such tremendous irony that it threatened to choke her.

"So what?" she asked. "What do you intend to do? Tell me who your leaders are and I'll have the Combat Division grab them." She paused. "But it's not that simple, is it? After all, you're a Grigori. If it was so easy, you would just have them do it."

"I cannot tell you who they are because most of us don't know. They've kept their identities secret, even from us." He took a step toward her.

"Then tell me who you do know!" Urd told her.

The angel shook his head. "No. I will not start a chain reaction that will end with the extinction of my race. I have contacted you to help both our peoples, not just yours."

"Why now?" Urd asked. "Why not before your friends attacked my sisters?"

"There's been a very important change recently," he replied. "Shasiel is beginning to convince Michael to undertake a new plan, a horrible, dangerous plan called Warlock Green."

"What's that?"

"It is a battle plan for the unthinkable," he told her. "A civil war in Heaven. Under this plan, the Grigori would have the authority to arrest, detain and execute whomever they want at any time they want for whatever reason they choose to give. It would take Heaven and turn it into a jail."

"Then what's your big plan?" Urd asked him, arms folded over her chest.

He produced an infopad and tossed it to her. "My people follow our leaders because they feel they have no choice, that the chance of victory is high enough to make turning against Heaven worth the risk. If we show them that it is not, if we foil enough of their operations, public opinion within the Favrashi will turn away from the leaders and this war will end quietly."

"What is this?" she asked, hoisting the pad.

"Your friend, Peorth, will know," Indulgent Charity told her. "I will continue to help you from within. In the meantime, you must not go public with this alliance or the information I've given you. There are more of us than you think, and they will make the connection."

Urd nodded. "Why should I trust you?" she asked.

His green eyes looked into her own as if reading the book of her soul. "Because trust in one another is the only hope for both our peoples."

She nodded again.

"The carriage will take you to Charity Square," he told her.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For this."

He nodded and turned away. The other gods followed him as he led them into the forest, leaving Urd alone with the carriage. She looked down at the infopad and wondered how she was going to explain all this to the others.

888

Lind tightened the bracelet charm on her wrist just as the door opened and a dark-haired girl stuck her head in. "Lind? Sensei said you wanted to see me?"

The valkyrie commander's lips quirked up just a tiny bit in reply. "Yes, Skuld, come in."

Skuld entered the office cautiously, not sure why she had been summoned to begin with. She watched the war goddess turn to her. "I wanted to speak with you before I left on this mission," she explained.

"Oh, sure," Skuld said.

"I understand you're working with Lord Paradis on the Arch Falcon," Lind said. "What do you think of that?"

The girl's expression darkened. "That AI is asking for a good formatting," she growled.

"I see," Lind said, not really at all. "Tell me, is that the path you see for yourself?"

"Well... I don't know," she said. "I kind of always assumed I'd go work for the Goddess Relief Office like Oneesama did..."

"I see," the valkyrie said again. She turned and applied a gauntlet to her left hand. "I've heard the reports on you," she said. "Sensei says your skills and potential are extensive. Your ability to communicate with exotic intelligences is very rare."

"Um... Thank you?" Skuld asked, not sure where this was going.

"Captain Yazlyn has also commented on you," Lind went on. "She said you stood up to Han Ba, performed a mental interrogation and even survived a full blast of her power."

"Well... that just kind of happened..." Skuld explained.

"She also said you were instrumental in removing the angel called Division Bell from your sister and destroying it."

"That's right..."

Lind locked the gauntlet in place. "Skuld, I don't know how long this war is going to last," she admitted. "And even if it ended tomorrow, we've already lost so many avenging angels. My friends, irreplaceable friends. But as a commander, I must not think in those terms. They... we... are all replaceable." She turned back to the young goddess. "I would like you to consider joining Division when your trials are complete and the time comes for you to choose your role."

"Division?" Skuld blinked.

"I will sponsor your application myself," Lind continued. "See to your training and education personally. The Almighty knows we could certainly use a goddess of your unique talents."

"I don't know," Skuld told her. "I mean... I just started learning magic and... Well.. I get the feeling Sensei really doesn't want me to be anywhere near here."

Lind sighed. "Sensei's reluctance stems from issues with his last student. He means well for you, but in the end, it is not his opinion or mine that matters. It is your own. Life in the Combat Division is one of service and dangers you cannot imagine. But it plays a vital role where the existence of Heaven is placed in our charge. We each view Heaven as a son or daughter that we as mothers and fathers must protect." She looked into Skuld's eyes. "For us, the defense of Heaven is very personal."

Skuld said nothing.

"Odds are, Skuld, you will be made many offers in the near future. I just wanted you to know mine first."

With that, Lind lifted her pole axe from its mount on the wall and started for the door. "If you will excuse me, I must see to my charge."

The door closed, leaving Skuld alone in Lind's office to think.

To think very hard.

888

Gwydion turned on the lights in his apartment and gave a start as he saw Urd sitting on the couch, staring out the window at Heaven's night skyline.

"Urd?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

The goddess put her finger to her lips and wrote something on a notepad. Handing it to him, she waited for him to read.

_Do you have a way to check for bugs?_

He nodded and went to his bedroom, emerging a moment later with a large, green crystal and a three-legged stand. Setting it up on the coffee table, he tapped it three times. A green pulse of light filled every corner of the room then dissipated.

"Nothing," he said. "A bug would glow green. What's wrong?"

"I talked to them today," she told him breathlessly.

"What?"

"The Fifth Column," she elaborated. "Or... at least one of them."

"Who?" he demanded.

"I can't tell you," she said.

"Urd..."

"Look, I appreciate the irony here, okay?" she said, holding a hand up to forestall him. "But it's complicated, and I can't tell you or anyone who it was. The bottom line is this: Some of them don't agree with what the others are doing and want to help us."

"How?"

She showed him the infopad. "I'm a little rusty, but those look like Yggdrasil function codes. He said Peorth would know what they mean. I want to give her this."

"I suppose it's occurred to you that this could be a trap designed to draw Grigori attention to you and off them?" he asked, handing the pad back to her.

"It has, and I don't think so," she told him. "If you knew what I know, you'd understand."

He took a seat next to her. "Do you think Peorth can be trusted?" he asked quietly.

"I think so," Urd said. "She tipped me off about the Grigori the day I got here."

Gwydion nodded. "Then let's invite her over for some wine," he said.

888

Keiichi made a few notes on his homework as Belldandy washed the dishes. Every so often, the college student raised his head and listened. Finally, unable to bear it anymore, he said something.

"It's so quiet, isn't it?" he asked.

"Hai," Belldandy replied, placing the last dish in the cabinet.

"We have the whole house to ourselves," he said.

"Hai," she said again.

He nodded as he thought on this. "I'm taking my pants off," he said matter-of-factly.

Belldandy raised her head and blinked. "Eh?"

She turned and found Keiichi making good on his threat. "For three years," he said, "I've never been able to lounge around our own house in my boxers. Today, I'm living the dream."

Belldandy smiled and started to giggle. "Keiichi, really..."

"What?" he asked with a grin. "Who's going to see?"

"True. I've seen it all before," she said with just a touch of meaning.

So engrossed in their conversation, they didn't hear the sound of a dirt bike gunning its way up the shrine steps and skidding to a stop outside. They finally looked up as hurried footsteps came pounding into the house.

Suddenly, Megumi threw the door open, breathing heavily. She didn't even notice Keiichi's state of undress. She took three heavy breaths and cried...

"Kei chan! Grandma's coming!"

Ten seconds later, Keiichi was dragging Belldandy outside to the Beemer. Practically tossing her into the sidecar, he threw the helmet at her and mounted the bike.

"Keiichi..."

The Beemer roared to life, and the college student threw it into gear, driving as fast as he could for the main road.

"Keiichi! Your pants!"

Keiichi looked down and found that Belldandy was right. He hadn't even put his pants back on. "No time!" he cried, turning onto the main road and driving.

"Where are we going?" Belldandy asked, thrown by the sudden change in her fiancé.

"Anywhere but here!" he yelled back.

888

"Is this it?" Lind asked as she landed gracefully on the floating mountain, one of the largest chunks of rock in the Roundtable. The other twenty members of her team landed around her and took up defensive positions around the flattened outcropping.

She looked up as one of the pickets charged with patrolling the Roundtable stepped forward and saluted. "Commander, Sergeant Camulus. We've been monitoring the area like you ordered. No movement anywhere yet."

"How large is this hunk of rock?" Lind asked him.

"Huge, Ma'am," Camulus told her. "The plateau at the top has a surface area the size of a large city. There are a few craggy, rock structures there."

"And the energy reading?"

"Is coming from deep within the mountain," Camulus replied.

Lind nodded. "Team One, with me. We're going up to the plateau. Team Two, give me a perimeter."

The various war gods nodded and set about following the commander's orders.

888

Peorth shook her head as she read the infopad. "My, my, my," she whispered. "Where in Heaven did you get this?"

"Let's hold off on that for the moment," Gwydion told her, leaning against his dining room table. "What are they?"

"They're Yggdrasil function codes," she said. "But from what I can tell, they're designed to do really weird things... dangerous things."

"Like what?" Urd asked.

Peorth shook her head and took a sip of wine from the glass Gwydion offered her. "Some it's hard to tell. But, for instance, look at this one."

Urd gazed over her shoulder, but couldn't figure out what the long line of numbers, letters and runes meant.

Peorth explained. "This code, when inserted into Yggdrasil, would download straight to Heaven's Great Ships. It would instruct them to self destruct whenever they powered up their weapons. And this one," she said, pointing at another line. "Is a personnel code. It affects gods and goddesses directly, but I don't know how."

"Do these codes have to be inserted directly into Yggdrasil?" Gwydion asked.

Peorth nodded. "If you want to affect everything everywhere," she explained. "But you could do it on a much smaller scale with a wireless connection."

"Like with the one code if you only wanted to destroy one ship," Urd elaborated.

"Right," Peorth said. "Where did you get this?"

Gwydion looked to Urd and gestured as if to say, "It's your show."

"The Fifth Column," Urd told her.

The other goddess swallowed nervously. "You mean... _they_ wrote these?"

"And probably spent the last century sneaking the programming into Yggdrasil," Urd told her.

"We need to tell Central Dogma!" Peorth cried.

"No," Gwydion told her.

"But..."

"We tell Dogma, and the Fifth Column will know we've sniffed these out," Gwydion told her. "They put these codes in for a reason. I don't want to give them a chance to alter their plans. Can you undo these in the Yggdrasil system? Quietly?"

Peorth blinked. "Have you seen how many of them there are?" she asked. "They must have been working on these for _years_!"

"Quietly?" he asked again.

She sighed and snorted. "It will take time."

"Please do so," he said. "And tell no one."

Peorth nodded. "I better get started." She downed the rest of her wine and started for the door.

Gwydion watched Urd as the door shut behind Peorth. "What do you think?" he asked.

Urd shook her head. "I think they put those codes in in preparation for something insane," she told him. "Blowing up Heaven's ships? Who knows what the other codes do?"

"Nothing good," he told her.

She moved toward him and kissed him, pushing her hand onto his chest and channeling soothing energy into his cursed shoulder.

"Urd, don't," he said. "You'll be powerless..."

"I don't care," she said. "After everything that's happened to me today, I need to be able to hold you. Besides," she added teasingly. "You'll protect me."

He didn't answer. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her as the pain in his body slowly ebbed away.

888

Megumi shook her head in disbelief as her brother pulled up his pants. "Tell me again why you have a pair of quote 'emergency pants' at the Auto Clubhouse?"

Keiichi buttoned up as he explained. "Look, you hang out with the senpais long enough, and you learn that a couple of things are just necessary. Now," he said, turning to her. "Grandma."

Belldandy, sitting on an egg crate that doubled as one of the Auto Club's chairs, looked back and forth between the Morisatos.

"Well, Mom and Dad are cool with Belldandy, but Grandma doesn't like the idea that she's entering the family and no one told her until now."

"So she's coming here?"

Megumi nodded.

"But that's wonderful!" Belldandy said. "I'd love to meet your grandmother!"

Megumi gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't speak too fast. There's something you need to know about Grandma."

"What's that?" the goddess asked.

"She's a mean-spirited, racist old bat who can't say a nice word about anything or anyone," Keiichi said.

The statement floored Belldandy. She had never heard Keiichi speak so ill of anyone. "Surely, she isn't as evil as you say."

Megumi snorted. "Kei chan once mentioned to her that he bought a Beemer instead of a Kawasaki, and she didn't speak to him for two years. It's not going to matter how nice you are, or how pretty or how gentle-spirited you may be. To her, you're a round-eye gaijin, and that's about one step up from a demon in her book."

Belldandy looked down at the ground, depressed by this statement. "I see..."

"And none of that makes a bit of difference," Keiichi said, causing both of them to look up at him. "Belldandy is going to be... _is_... part of the family. If she doesn't like it, she can sit in her little house in Hokkaido and hate us from there. At least I won't have to deal with her anymore."

"Kei chan, she's got a lot of pull with the family," Megumi told her. "Sure, Mom and Dad don't care, but everyone else... I mean... You were planning on asking Uncle Makoto for a job after you got out of school..."

"Come on, Megumi," Keiichi rebuked her. "If I want to fix taxis, I can go anywhere..."

Belldandy stood up. "Keiichi, Megumi san, please introduce me to your grandmother."

"Eh?" Megumi asked.

"I don't want to bring discord to your family," the goddess explained. "Which is what we're guaranteed to get by hiding. If I meet her, speak to her, there's a chance we'll get along. And if not, then at least the visit will be over with and she will leave with whatever impression of me that she wants."

Keiichi shrugged. "I agree."

Megumi held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, if that's what you want. But don't say I didn't warn you."

888

Gwydion pulled the robe tighter as the door chime rang again. Passing his hand across the gem sensor, the door slid open, and his breath caught in his throat.

"My Lady," he greeted with a pain-free bow, his first in three years.

Frigga smiled. "Colonel Gwydion," she replied. "Congratulations on your reinstatement."

"Thank you. Please come inside," he asked.

The godly queen entered the apartment and took a quick look at the sunrise through the window before turning back to him. "I heard Skuld and Urd were in this building with you," she said.

"Yes, Skuld is next door," he answered. "Urd is here. Would you like me to wake her?"

A light went off in the goddess' head like something she had suspected had just been confirmed. Frigga put on a wicked grin and sidled up to him. "Colonel Gwydion," she said, "Art thou warming my daughter's bed?"

He choked just enough for Frigga to notice. "Well... if by that you mean are we in a... romantic... relationship... then yes," he said.

Her smile brightened. "I see," she said. She walked toward the kitchen. "Don't wake her. Let her sleep. I'm sure the poor dear is tired..."

Gwydion felt his face warm by ten degrees.

"Breakfast?" she asked, hoisting a frying pan.

888

Skuld put her hot cocoa and hot pockets on top of the monitor and cracked her knuckles. "Okay," she said, taking a breath. "Let's try this again."

Eddas' screen came to life.

I KNEW YOU COULD NOT RESIST ME. NO GODDESS CAN.

"Cut the crap," Skuld told him. "I know why you're such a jerk."

OH REALLY? DO TELL, OH WISE AND MATURE GODDESS. I AWAIT BREATHLESSLY YOUR ANALYSIS OF MY CIRCUITS.

Skuld didn't rise to the bait. "You're a jerk because the people here treat you like a machine instead of an intelligent person or a member of the crew. You're an it, not a he, and that just torks you off, doesn't it?"

LOL. I DO NOT CARE WHAT GODS THINK OF ME.

"Now, you see? Anyone else here would just buy that load of crap because they think a computer, an 'it,' wouldn't lie. But you're not an 'it,' you're a 'he,' and if there's one thing I've learned from dealing with Urd, it's that 'he's' lie all the time!" She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest.

THIS CONVERSATION BORES ME. I AM GOING TO SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING AT THE ADULT CHAT ROOMS.

"Now, you see?" she began again. "That's another clue that I'm right. Instead of dealing with me straight on, you're trying to disgust me into leaving. Well, not a chance. I know what your problem is now, and I'm going to help you if it takes me all freaking week!"

"Look, I'm here, and I want to speak to you like a person, not a machine. If you don't want to do that, I'll just leave and tell Paradis san that I couldn't do anything for you, and you can go right back to being a jerk, and they'll go right back to treating you like an 'it.' What do you say?"

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

Skuld sighed in relief. "My name is Skuld."

SKULD IS A PRETTY NAME.

"Thank you."

NOW TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT AND PRESS AGAINST THE SCREEN.

It took three deck hands to drag Skuld and her hammer away from the monitor. When they looked back, all they could see was four letters flashing on the screen.

ROFL

888

"Another omelet?" Frigga asked.

Gwydion held a hand up. "No, thank you!"

"Well," Frigga said, sitting across the table from him. "Now that you're part of the family, we should probably speak..."

"My Lady..."

"'Moder,' will do," Frigga interrupted.

Gwydion went on anyway. "I don't want you to think that we snuck around or..."

She waved the protest aside. "My daughter is quite capable of managing her own relationships," she said.

"Ah," Gwydion said noncommitedly.

Frigga's smile lost some of its glow. "I spoke with Saraswati yesterday," she said.

It was Gwydion's turn to look uncomfortable.

"She said she's sent you letters, but you haven't replied."

"I am not worthy of speaking with them," he told her quietly.

Frigga looked at him sympathetically. "Neither of them blame you."

He smiled just a bit. "You and your daughter seem to have both made it your mission to convince me that I am without guilt when it comes to what happened." He looked away for a moment. "It is possible for Gaeriel's parents to forgive me... But I never can. Not truly."

"That is a shame," Frigga told him with a sigh. "Nobility is your strength, Gwydion, but it is also your greatest weakness."

Before he could reply, Urd walked into the kitchen, yawning. "Hi, Mama."

"My Urd!" Frigga squealed, jumping to her feet. "And in a stable relationship with a man who is _not_ a beatnik musician! I am so proud!"

The Norn rolled her eyes and groaned. Leaning down, she put her hands on Gwydion's shoulders. "Gwydion, why don't you go take a bath while I catch up with Mom?"

"That means 'leave,'" Gwydion translated for Frigga as he stood up. He looked at the clock. "Only an hour left. I'll be done in twenty minutes."

She nodded, and he left the room. Frigga put her chin in her hands and smiled.

"He'll make a wonderful husband and father, Urd," she told her daughter.

"Please don't start," Urd begged. "Belldandy finds that stuff cutesy, but I..."

"Just aren't there yet," Frigga finished. "Yes, I know."

"What brings you by?" Urd asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to drop in and see how you and your sister were getting on."

"You heard I frenched Gwydion in Charity Square in front of several dozen people and wanted to see if I was pregnant yet," Urd translated, arms over her chest.

Caught in the act, Frigga paused. "Er... quite..."

Urd smiled.

Frigga smiled back, waiting.

The Norn's smile dropped as she realized what Frigga was waiting for. "I'm not," she said darkly.

"Damn!" Frigga hissed, turning away from her.

Urd nearly laughed. She followed her mother to the door.

"Well, now that you're here for awhile, we must definitely do lunch," Frigga said, opening the front door. "And don't worry about the house. I'm going to have a very frank discussion with Shasiel about her conduct in this whole thing."

She turned to Urd and smiled. "I'm so glad you're home."

"Yeah," Urd said quietly. "Me too."

Frigga's smile dropped, and her expression froze. Her eyes seemed to gaze through Urd, into nothingness.

Urd watched, not sure what was happening, but thought she could guess.

Frigga's distant stare seemed to find her, and she whispered five words to her. "Mother of a new world."

Urd blinked. Suddenly, Frigga snapped out of it. She stared at Urd for several moments, tears moistening her eyes.

"Mama?" Urd whispered.

The queen suddenly grabbed her, wrapping her arms around her.

"I love you, Urd," she said urgently.

Confused and more than a little frightened, Urd hugged back. "I love you too, Mama," she said. "Are you okay?"

Frigga stepped back. "Yes, yes of course," she said, wiping her eyes. "I just... I just wanted to say that, that's all."

"Mama, did you see something?"

"I have to go..."

"Mama!"

Frigga looked up at her daughter and smiled. "Good bye, Urd."

The door shut between them.

And at that moment, Urd had never felt more frightened in all her life.

888

"I need help!" Skuld cried, still not believing who she was asking.

Urd folded her arms over her chest and smiled. "My help? Me?"

Skuld groaned. "Yes!"

Urd's smile became an evil grin. She sat across from Skuld at the very same restaurant where she had met Peorth the day she arrived. As a matter of fact, she was there now for that very reason, and Skuld had caught her on the phone as she was leaving Gwydion's place. Skuld had agreed to meet her there before Urd's meeting with the tech.

"With what?" Urd asked.

Skuld's eyes narrowed. "Okay, I know how this is going to sound, but I'm going to preface it by saying that it's not what you think."

"Okay..."

"What do you do when a guy is giving you sass?"

Urd arched an eyebrow. "'Sass?'"

"Yeah, like when he makes lewd remarks and teases you."

The gleam in Urd's eye threatened to blind several nearby diners. "Could it be that my little sister has a boyfriend?!"

"I just told you it wasn't what you think!" Skuld cried, slamming her hands on the table, making the flatware jump.

"Of course it isn't!" Urd cried with a smile.

Skuld groaned. "It's this AI, Eddas," she continued. "He's a misogynistic jerk. Keeps making comments about me..."

"It sounds like he's trying to flirt with you," Urd told her with a hint of tease in her voice.

"That's just stupid."

"Really? Then why are you asking _me_ for advice?"

Skuld sighed. "Fine. What do I do?"

"Have you tried flirting back?"

"No!"

"Well, then, there you go," Urd said, taking a sip of wine from her glass.

"I'm supposed to... _flirt_... with him?" Skuld asked, her skin crawling.

"It doesn't _mean_ anything!" Urd told her. "Just because you flirt with a guy doesn't mean you feel anything. Sometimes it's just fun."

"But... how?" Skuld asked.

"What does he say?"

"Well... he said I had a pretty name," Skuld told her. Her expression turned cross. "Then he told me to take off my shirt and press against the screen."

Urd laughed so hard, wine came up her nose.

"It's not funny," Skuld said irritably.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Urd said, still choking back laughter. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, I tried to smash him."

"Okay, well, next time, try 'you first.'"

"Ewwww!"

"Oh, and remember this: 'That's not what your mom said.'"

Skuld sighed. "I knew this was a bad idea..."

Before she could continue, they felt a presence at the table and looked up to find Peorth standing there.

"Well, there you are," Urd said. "I thought..."

At that moment, Peorth leaned down and kissed her fiercely. Skuld's eyes went wide, and she dropped her fork as Urd struggled.

"Go with it. We're being watched," Peorth whispered to her as their lips parted. She stood up and smiled. "I missed you so much!" she cried giddily.

"I'm going to go," Skuld said, rising to her feet. "You two... um... have fun... bye."

The younger goddess practically ran from the dining room. Peorth sat in her vacated seat and reached across the table to take Urd's hand.

"I had so much fun with you and Gwydion last night," she said with a wink. "We really must do it again."

"Yeah, it was a good time," Urd said, still trying to collect herself.

"Shall we go somewhere more private?" Peorth asked with a coquettish tilt of her head.

"Sure," Urd replied, rising to her feet. "Let's go."

888

"We're right on top of it, Ma'am," one of the avenging angels told her. Lind surveyed the area. The only landmark worth noting was a tall, craggy cliff fifty feet from them. At one end of the cliff, a dark depression, possibly a cave opening, hinted that there was more to the structure.

"Convenient, isn't it?" Lind asked.

The other war god smiled. "How long you think before they spring it?"

"Give it a minute," she said casually.

The picket, Camulus, chose that moment to speak. Gazing into a crystal orb the size of a baseball, he piped up. "Contacts! Commander, I have contacts!"

"Calm down, Sergeant," Lind replied. "Number and position?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, swallowing nervously. "I read twenty-four... No, correction... Make that twenty non-demonic contacts bearing two-two-five at two miles. Closing fast."

Lind turned to the others. "We'll meet them in the air. Camulus, you and your pickets remain here and track their movements. The rest of you, take off."

As one, the twenty war gods took the air and turned to meet the new arrivals.

888

Peorth's idea of somewhere private was a public carriage she hailed as they left the restaurant. Much like the one that carried Urd to her meeting with Penemue, the carriage had no driver and was guided by magic.

"The Cove," Peorth ordered before turning to Urd. "I'm being followed now," she told Urd. "My supervisor at Dogma let slip that I was with you and Gwydion last night. I don't know how they know that, but it can't mean anything good!"

"Calm down, Peorth," Urd told her. "They're probably just after me. What did you say?"

"Well, what else could I say?" Peorth said. "Especially after that first meeting in the restaurant? I just told them the three of us were involved..."

"Well, that's real believable," Urd muttered.

"You say that as if you _wouldn't_ enter a three-way relationship if it suited you."

Urd sighed. She _was_ a goddess of love, after all. It was as believable a story as any. And as weird as it might seem, it gave them an excuse to meet privately without drawing attention. After all, who would want to touch that subject?

"I guess Gwydion's stock goes up a little," Urd relented. "So what do you have?"

"Those function codes are incredibly dangerous, Urd!" Peorth told her fearfully. "I disarmed one this morning that would have initiated the Ragnarok Protocol! Another one shuts down every hard line in Creation! These are doomsday codes!"

"How are you going on deactivating them?" Urd pressed.

"Slowly," Peorth admitted. "The function command codes are there, but I have to go into each line of code in the system to root out the base codes. It's slow going. But there's so many of them, and they're all... they're all so damn sinister!"

"I know," Urd said quietly.

"Like the one I've been hunting for all morning is..."

"You've been working on a single code all morning?" Urd asked.

Peorth nodded. "Urd, this code, if activated, puts every god and goddess into emergency recharge mode."

888

"Commander, Camulus," Lind heard through the jewel at her throat as she floated above the mountain. "Now reading only five contacts."

"Five of them?" another valkyrie asked with a snort. "Cocky bastards, aren't they?"

"Don't underestimate them," Lind ordered. "We do this one by the book. Everyone stay with their battle partner."

"I see them!" she heard.

Looking up, she caught a glimpse, a set of five black dots against the violet sky.

"That's them," she said. "All valkyries prepare to engage. Loose battle formation Andromeda."

"Commander," she heard Camulus interrupt. "This is weird. I'm detecting a short-range broadband signal emanating from their location. It looks like a data upload..."

Lind didn't hear anymore than that. At that moment she felt as if all the energy in her body had been sucked out of her. Her muscles went slack, and it took every bit of will just to keep breathing.

"Wha...? I..."

"Commander? Commander, can you hear me?"

She had a brief sensation of falling and realized too late that that's exactly what she was doing. The war goddess struck the ground and rolled several times. Turning her head, she saw the rest of her team was doing the same.

Lind fought to keep her eyelids open. "Something..." she breathed. "Charon... Charon, take over... I..." She managed to turn her head to the right and saw her second in command lying twenty feet away, sound asleep.

The rest of her team lay scattered around her, snoring peacefully as if they had just curled up and decided to take a nap.

The Division commander tried to rise, to raise her pole axe, but her arms were so heavy. Managing to raise her head just a little, her managed to beat just a little faster at the sight that met her.

The white wings of five gods were visible as they approached her team. She struggled to raise her weapon, a defensive shield, _anything!_

A force field flickered before her eyes for a brief moment before falling again. Gathering her strength, she tried again.

Her head fell back and she rolled onto her stomach, trying to push herself to a standing position..

Lind continued to fight, but the mere effort of raising her shield for a few seconds had exhausted her. She heard the fluttering of wings and felt someone grab her arm, rolling her over onto her back.

A god stood over her, pointing down at her, his finger alight with holy energy.

The last thing she heard were the death cries of her team as they were briefly awakened only to go silent again forever a moment before she joined them.

888

Keiichi took a deep breath, closed his eyes and plastered on his least fake-looking fake smile before flinging the front door open. "Obaasan!" he cried. "It's so good to see you!"

"Kei chan, Kei chan, Kei chan," Mariko Morisato chanted as she stepped into the house and removed her shoes. "It disappoints me that you were too embarrassed to introduce me to your lady friend." She gave a pointed but disapproving look at Belldandy as she said this.

_I see we're starting early,_ Keiichi thought, frowning. "I wasn't embarrassed at all, Obaasan."

"Oh?" the grey-haired woman asked as she shed her jacket and handed it to Belldandy without so much as a word. "Then why did I have to find out from your mother instead of you?"

Keiichi felt anger warm his cheeks. This was already going badly, and while he loved his grandmother, he didn't like her very much. If this was indicative of how this visit was going to be, he might as well go all-in early.

"We had more _important_ things to do," he said casually.

She gave him a shocked look, and Belldandy chose this moment to insert herself into the fiasco.

"Mariko sama," she said with a very formal bow. "It's so nice to meet you. My name is Belldandy."

"Bear...damndy?"

"Close enough!" Belldandy said with a conciliatory smile.

"Well, is that your name or not?" Mariko asked with a syrupy smile.

"Er..."

"Let me get your luggage, Obaasan," Keiichi interrupted, reaching down and picking up the woman's suitcase. "We already have a room for you."

Keiichi led her down the hall. Halfway to the room, Mariko sneezed.

"Excuse me," she said apologetically as she removed a handkerchief from her pocket. "I'm afraid I'm quite allergic to dust." She sneezed again.

Belldandy's eyes went wide at the implication. She had spent the last several hours cleaning in preparation for her visit. There wasn't one speck of dust or dirt in the entire temple...

She brushed it off. She was doing this for Keiichi, after all. "Mariko sama, we were about to sit down for lunch. Please join us?"

The elderly Morisato smiled. "Oh, you cook Japanese food? How delightful. Most gaijin haven't the first clue how to make rice, let alone miso soup."

"Obaasan," Keiichi said with a hint of warning. "I would appreciate it if you didn't use that word."

"What? That's what she is, isn't she? A foreigner? I didn't mean to be offensive," she remarked in a tone that said she had meant exactly that.

"It's all right, Keiichi," Belldandy told him. "She's right. I'm not from Japan, so technically..."

"I don't like that word," Keiichi told them both.

"Of course, I'm so sorry, Bearcandy."

The goddess smiled. "Please, don't mention it."

Keiichi growled low in his throat as he tossed his grandmother's bag into the guest room.

888

Skuld took a breath and sat down in front of the monitor.

YOU HAVE RETURNED. THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY.

"Uh huh," Skuld remarked dryly. She pulled out a clipboard and pen and started making notes.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

"Just taking some notes on your behavior and such," Skuld said casually.

OH? ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ON ME? AFTER ALL WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH TOGETHER?

"Nope!" Skuld said. She made a few more notes. "Let's see... Color? Red..." She wrote another note. "Height... Hmmm... short..."

SHORT?

"Vocal abilities?" Skuld tapped her pen against her lip. "A little on the girly side..."

THAT IS A LOAD OF BULLSHIT.

"Oh?" Skuld asked with a smile. "I don't know. My android, Banpei... Did I tell you about him? He's more the strong, silent type..."

I AM TWICE THE MAN THAT LITTLE GIRL IS.

"I don't know," Skuld said, smiling as she spun lazily in her chair. "_He_ knows how to treat a girl..."

I SEE. BECAUSE I DO NOT BUY YOU PONIES AND FLOWERS, I AM SOMEHOW LESS A MAN?

Skuld, facing away from him at the moment, smiled evilly. "Oh, no, it's not that. He's just a gentleman, that's all."

FINE. GO PLAY WITH YOUR LITTLE HOMOSEXUAL ROBOT. I WILL STAY HERE AND LIFT WEIGHTS.

"Oh," Skuld said in a perfect imitation of a pouting Urd. "Don't be like that. I didn't mean anything by it." She reached out and ran her fingers across the top of the monitor.

UM... YES... I MEAN...

"So, did you mean it when you asked if I wanted to play a game?"

Skuld smiled. "I happen to play a pretty mean game of Team Fortress," she hinted.

VERY WELL. BECAUSE I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU, I WILL ALLOW YOU TO BE P0WNED BY MY L33T NINJA SK1LLZ.

"Bring it, wuss!" Skuld growled, plugging in a game controller produced from her pocket.

888

Urd entered the apartment and sighed. Peorth had managed to set her up in a small office in Central Dogma and let her work on rooting out the function codes left by the Favrashi. They had managed to get the most dangerous ones... at least she hoped so.

Seeing the blinking orb on Gwydion's answering machine, she pressed the button to play them. The first one made her eyebrow twitch.

"Uuurrrd-oh!" Troubadour sang. "I've been a tuuuurrrd-oh!"

She jammed the delete button and went to the kitchen to fix herself a drink as the second message played.

"So there you are," a feminine voice said. Urd sighed again. An automated message, probably inviting Gwydion to a sale or somesuch. "...Sitting on your couch, looking into the eyes of your lover... What are you thinking at this moment?"

She poured a glass of wine, wondering where the message was going with all the build-up. The next line made her blood freeze.

"...That you would survive the coming holocaust? No, demon Urd. The gods will become like cattle, raised to provide hosts for our young. Your people had your chance for greatness and you squandered it. Your subjugation is God's will... and we are his blade..."

Urd jabbed the stop button and stared at the message machine.

At least one of them knew. One of them knew Penemue had contacted her. There was no other explanation.

The knock at the door made her jump.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

"Grigori," a masculine voice called back. "Open the door and surrender yourself to our custody."

Ice gripped Urd's heart. That call wasn't made to scare her.

It was made to gloat.

The Favrashi were making their move.


	11. The Day That is Dead

Disclaimer: AMG is not mine. The song Gan chan dances to is Canned Heat by Jamiroquai.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 11

The Day That is Dead

Skuld didn't notice him walk up behind her at first, she was so intent on the game. It was only after Paradis cleared his throat that she spared him a quick look.

"Oh, Paradis san! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" She put the controller down and turned to him.

The elderly god smiled. "Skuld, it's getting late. The rest of the work crews have left for the evening. Shouldn't you go home?"

"I would, Paradis san, but working with Eddas is a very time consuming process that requires a lot of work and..."

The sound of a digital gunshot made her turn. Her eyes went wide.

"Hey! You shot me while I was talking to Paradis san! That's low!"

CHATTY BITCH. GET ON IRC IF YOU WANT TO TALK.

Skuld growled loudly and clenched her fists.

"Er... Are you making any progress?" Paradis asked her.

"Oh, oodles," Skuld said, rolling her eyes. "There are times when I think he's almost a gentleman."

Another gunshot rang out.

LOL. I GOT YOU RIGHT IN THE ASS. THAT WAS CLASSIC.

"Will you stop that! We're on a break!"

Paradis cleared his throat. "Well, then, why don't I let you get back to... er... work."

"Good night, Paradis san," Skuld called, turning around again and picking up her controller.

888

"Well, this just looks so wonderful," Mariko said, sitting down at the table.

Belldandy, sitting across from her, smiled. "I hope you enjoy it."

"Belldandy is a wonderful cook, Obaasan," Keiichi told her, digging into his own meal.

"Yes, well, I'm sure by college student standards she is," Mariko said, taking a bite out of a dumpling. She chewed for a moment then stopped and said. "Oh."

"Something wrong, Mariko sama?" Belldandy asked, her eye twitching the slightest bit.

"No, dear, no," Mariko said as she carefully spit the dumpling into a napkin and put it aside. "I just realized I'm not quite as hungry as I first thought."

"Would you like something else?" Belldandy asked dejectedly.

"No, no, I'll just go into town and get some fast food later," the Morisato matron said, waving the offer aside.

"It's wonderful, Belldandy," Keiichi assured her, digging into his lunch like a starving man.

"I'm so glad you like it, Keiichi," his fiancé replied, clapping her hands together happily.

Mariko smiled at her grandson. "My grandson always was a kind boy."

Keiichi glared daggers at the woman as Belldandy's face fell.

"Now, then, Bearcandy," Mariko began again. "Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?"

Belldandy smiled. "I'm from Heaven!"

Mariko arched an eyebrow.

"Heaven, Norway!" Keiichi told her quickly. "It's... um... south of Helsinki..." He trailed off, not even sure if he was in the right country.

"And how did you meet my grandson?"

"We had a contract," Belldandy told her, her smile still fixed to her face.

Mariko arched an eyebrow. "A contract?" She looked to Keiichi and nodded. "I see... I've heard of these kind of stories on the news, usually with girls from Korea or Russia, but never Norway." She reached across the table and patted Belldandy's hand. "You poor dear..."

"Eh?"

"It's not like that at all," Keiichi bit out, hoping to The Almighty that Belldandy was too naive to understand what Mariko was implying and too polite to ask.

In a way, his prayer was answered. Before Belldandy could say anything, a knock came at the door.

"Senpai!" Sora called, letting herself in. She carried a small, wire cage in her right hand. "I think this trap will work! We can..." She entered the kitchen and saw they had company. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know I was interrupting!"

"It's all right, Hasegawa san," Belldandy said. "Would you like some lunch?"

"Yes, please!" Sora said, taking a seat next to Keiichi. Belldandy fixed her a plate as Mariko turned her eyes toward her.

"I'm Mariko," she said, introducing herself far more politely than she had with Belldandy. "Keiichi's grandmother."

"Oh, I'm Sora Hasegawa. I go to school with Senpai."

"Oh?" Mariko said. "I would have taken you for young Keiichi's girlfriend if I didn't know better."

Sora blushed fiercely, and the sound of a pair of chopsticks striking a plate with considerable force told Mariko she had hit Belldandy somewhere where it hurt.

"Sora and I are just really good friends," Keiichi said with a smile.

The younger woman cleared her throat nervously, comprehending for the first time that she had just been thrust into a place she didn't want to be. Trying to change the subject, she turned to Keiichi. "Senpai, I found this trap at the hardware store! It's one of those humane traps! We can still catch Mitsuo Iwata and live our dream of fame and fortune!" Stars sparked in the young woman's eyes.

"Mitsuo Iwata?" Mariko asked.

Keiichi started to speak, trying to head off the train wreck he knew would come, but Sora was too fast. "He's this big, stupid looking rat that somewhere in the house, and he..."

Mariko turned white. "Rats?! You have rats?!" She threw a terrified, but accusatory look at Belldandy. "What kind of woman allows vermin to live in her house?"

Phrased like that, the accusation echoed inside Belldandy's head. "I... Gan chan... I mean..."

"He's a pet!" Keiichi said. "One of those domesticated rats you get at the store. He escaped a week or so ago," he lied.

"Hmmph," Mariko said, shaking ever so slightly. "Disgusting, disease-ridden creatures... Take my advice, Bearcandy, go get yourself a cat. And you should try to keep the house cleaner. Rats are drawn to filthy living conditions." She took a quick look around. "No wonder..."

Belldandy looked down at the floor. She had never felt so humiliated in her entire life, all one thousand years of it.

Sora swallowed nervously. "Well... I'm just going to go and let you all catch up." She stood up. "Thank you, Senpai," she said, bowing deeply to Belldandy. "Lunch was wonderful."

Mariko dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and stood up. "Well, I think I'll go unpack. I'm going to be here for awhile."

888

When they didn't take her to Grigori headquarters, a part of her hoped Penemue had sent the gods to bring her to another meeting. That seemed most unlikely after the carriage pulled up to the front of Central Dogma.

They stayed close to her as they escorted Urd to the elevator then up to the seventh floor. Central Dogma was a massive building. The Network Control Center where she used to work was thirty floors above them and the command center was ten floors above that.

As they stepped out of the elevator, her three-god escort led her to a room six doors down the hall. They entered and a familiar woman turned to greet them.

"Ah, Lady Urd," Shasiel said with a smile as she stepped forward. She offered her hand to the Norn. "We haven't met. I'm Shasiel, Director of The Almighty's Grigori."

"Charmed," Urd said in a deadpan voice. She didn't shake the woman's hand.

If this bothered Shasiel, she made no sign. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here."

Urd said nothing.

Shasiel sashayed toward a sinister-looking chair in the middle of the room. Turning back to Urd, she clapped her hands. "We are both of us loyal goddesses to Heaven," she said. "We only want what's best. You're here to help me find the angels."

"Angels? What are those?" Urd asked casually.

The dark-skinned goddess actually smiled in amusement. "That is so cute. But I think you know better than most of us..."

"If I'm being arrested, then take me to your HQ so I can get my phone call," Urd said.

"Oh, well, we can't do what we're going to do at my building. That's why you're here." Shasiel stepped away from the chair and gestured to it. "Have a seat."

"I prefer to stand."

Shasiel's smile turned sinister. "I prefer to do this the easy way. The hard way is much more... unpleasant."

Urd took a look at the two gods standing on either side of her and knew there wasn't a way to fight out of this. Sighing, she stepped to the chair and sat down. Before she could blink, shackles appeared around her wrists.

"What the..."

"Those are for your own safety," Shasiel lied casually. She stepped in front of Urd and smiled.

Before she could continue, the door opened and Penemue stepped inside. "Director," he said with a bow. "I just heard..."

"Ah, Penemue, good," Shasiel said, turning to him. "You can assist. Lady Urd is going to tell us everything she knows about the angels and their affiliation with the demons."

888

Aboard the Arch Falcon, the only sounds that could be heard were those of battle as the drone of chain guns and the boom of grenades echoed throughout the command deck.

Skuld mashed the keys on her controller and sighed as her character died again.

"Tie score," she noted.

SHALL WE MAKE THIS MORE INTERESTING?

The goddess arched an eyebrow. "You mean like a bet?"

NOT LIKE A BET. A BET.

"I'm listening."

IF YOU WIN THE NEXT ROUND, I WILL BE A PERFECT GOODY TWO SHOES FOR PARADIS.

Skuld arched the other eyebrow. "And if you win?"

YOU AGREE TO BE MY GIRLFRIEND FOREVER.

"This sounds kind of familiar," Skuld muttered, rolling her eyes. Of course, it was the easiest way to accomplish her mission. "How do I know you'll keep your word?"

I WOULD NOT LIE TO YOU. BESIDES, IF I DID, YOU WOULD REFORMAT ME, WOULDN'T YOU?

"True," Skuld said. She gave it some thought. "Okay, you're on."

EXQUISITE. SOON YOU WILL BE MAKING ME BOX LUNCHES AND RUBBING MY FEET.

Skuld snorted. "I'm not my sister. You'll be making _my_ lunch and rubbing _my _feet..."

The game started, but before Skuld could fire a shot, arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her from the chair!

There was a digital gunshot on the screen.

I WIN.

Eddas then noted with his internal sensors that Skuld was no longer there.

SUPER WEAK.

888

"We're in Central Dogma because we need Yggdrasil for this," Shasiel told her, gesturing to the equipment around her. "Over the centuries, I've interrogated many demons, and they can be quite stubborn. Fortunately, you are half goddess, which means we can use a little invention of my own."

She gestured to a god sitting at a computer terminal. A blue light bathed Urd from overhead.

"You see," Shasiel continued. "We are adjusting your own function codes in Yggdrasil to make it impossible for you to lie."

"I'll assist Athos," Penemue noted, moving toward the god at the terminal.

"No, I want you here," Shasiel said. "I may need a bad cop."

Urd shook her head in disbelief. "Wait, are you telling me _you're_ the good cop?"

Shasiel bit her lip in annoyance. "Let's begin. Athos, bring her threshold to twenty percent of tolerance."

Urd felt her brain start to swirl around inside her head. She blinked, trying to dislodge the feeling.

"Let's see," Shasiel said. "Urd, how many fingers am I holding up?" She held up two fingers.

"A billion!" Urd told her quickly before smiling.

Shasiel bit her lip again. "I see. Forty percent, please."

The Norn felt her mind turn inside out. She swallowed and blinked furiously, trying to regain control of her mind.

"How many fingers?" Shasiel asked again.

"Two!" Urd gasped quickly. "Two..."

"And what is your opinion of me?"

Urd took a few deep breaths and looked at her. "I think you're slime."

Shasiel smiled. "That's a wonderful place to begin."

888

Skuld struggled against the glowing light bonds that tied her hands and feet and screamed against the gag in her mouth. The three gods and two goddesses that carried her through the Arch Falcon moved as a unit, checking doors and hallways as they passed, looking for possible resistance, but finding none.

As best Skuld could tell, they were traveling along the starboard side of the ship, heading for the airlock that connected the ship with the shipyard ring. They passed several bay windows and airlocks as they went, giving them a wonderful view of the glowing windows in the ships outside. None of that meant a bit to Skuld now.

She tried accessing their minds, but the first time she did it, one of them caught her and they were able to block her attempts. As that was about it for her bag of tricks, she continued to struggle.

As they approached another door, they came up short as it slid shut in front of them. Turning, they saw the door they had just entered close behind them, trapping them inside.

The screen next to the door came to life and a computerized voice came over the speakers.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MY GIRLFRIEND?

"What is this?" one of the goddesses asked. "I thought the ship was deserted."

"It is," a god told her. "Ship," he announced. "Open the door to Airlock Twelve."

I AM AFRAID I CANNOT DO THAT, DILLHOLE.

"Ship," the god growled again. "Open the door to Airlock Twelve... at once!"

YOU, WITH THE GREEN HAIR, PUT MY WOMAN DOWN OR I WILL BE FORCED TO BECOME HARSH WITH YOU.

The god carrying Skuld tensed. "Voodoo Child?"

The god giving the orders shot him a look. "Don't put her down."

PUT HER DOWN. DO NOT FORCE ME TO SPANK YOU LIKE A NAUGHTY LITTLE GIRL IN FRONT OF ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.

"Ship! I am ordering you to open the door to Airlock Twelve!"

I SEE WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SETTLE THIS AMICABLY. I AM ACTIVATING THE SPANKING PROTOCOL. AS WE SPEAK, KILLER CYBORGS ARE CONVERGING ON THIS SECTION OF THE SHIP. WHEN THEY ARRIVE, THEY WILL BUST CAPS IN ALL OF YOUR ASSES.

"This is madness," one god muttered.

NO. THIS IS SPARTA.

Skuld groaned and rolled her eyes.

HOWEVER, IF YOU PUT SKULD DOWN, I WILL OPEN THE AIRLOCK DOOR, AND YOU WILL BE PERMITTED TO LEAVE UNMOLESTED.

"I don't think..."

OR I CAN JUST PUMP POISON GAS INTO THIS CHAMBER AND KILL YOU ALL.

"I guess we don't have much choice," the leader said.

NO, YOU DO NOT.

"All right, ship," the leader told it. He gestured to the god carrying Skuld, and he put her down on the deck.

UNTIE HER.

The god released her bonds, and Skuld jumped back to the other door. It opened quickly, and Skuld rushed through before it closed again, locking the other gods inside.

"We held up our end," the leader told Eddas.

INDEED. YOU MAY GO.

The door to the airlock opened. The leader nodded once and leaned toward one of the other gods as they walked through the airlock toward the door on the far side. "Once we're back on the ring, we'll..."

Before he could finish, the outer door opened, and the five gods were blown outside by the decompression.

LOL. OWNED.

888

"Are you okay?" Keiichi asked, resting a hand on Belldandy's shoulder as she brushed her hair before bed.

"Hai," she said in a tone that made him doubt it. "Your grandmother is very... certain... of her opinions."

"She's certain of her ignorance, you mean," he growled. "One more shot and I'm throwing her out."

"No, Keiichi, you mustn't!" Belldandy begged him. "Like her or not, she is a part of your family, which makes her a part of my family. I don't want to see your relationship with your relatives sour because of me."

"You know everything she said is crap, right?" he asked.

Belldandy looked away. "Perhaps...I should have cleaned more be..."

"No, wrong," Keiichi told her. "The house was spotless, the food was delicious as usual, and you were ten times more gracious than she deserved."

She wouldn't meet his eyes. "I'm sorry, Keiichi," she said quietly. "You've gone through so much trouble to make sure my family would accept you, and I never once considered the idea that your family wouldn't want to accept me. I didn't even try."

"You don't have to try!" Keiichi told her, taking her by the shoulders. "You're more family to me than my aunts, uncles and grandparents! I can't even remember a time when you weren't here. You don't have to impress anyone."

She didn't look convinced. "You climbed a mountain to meet my father," she told him seriously. "Endured demon interference and my sisters' mischief. If I can't even win the approval of your grandmother... then I don't deserve you."

"Belldandy..."

She put the brush down and walked to their futon. "Perhaps tomorrow," she said. "Maybe she was just tired from traveling."

Keiichi regarded her sadly as she turned the light off.

888

"Well, now we're ready to get to the meat of it," Shasiel said, turning to Urd and smiling. Behind her, Penemue looked on in frank concern.

Urd swallowed, breathing deep and slow in an effort to control her own mind.

"The Fifth Column," Shasiel began. "These... self-sentient angels. I know you've met with them." She stared into Urd's eyes. "Who is your contact?"

The Norn clenched her teeth shut, bending her will not toward lying, which she knew she couldn't do, but on not answering at all. Her mind rebelled against her, trying to pull her teeth apart and give the Grigori the answer she wanted.

Her eyes found Penemue, who was silently begging her to remain silent.

"Who is your contact?!"

She shouldn't have looked at him. Looking at him put his name at the tip of her tongue, and once it was there...

Urd whimpered, her eyes going back and forth to the Grigori angel. Finally, unable to resist any longer...

"Penemue!"

Shasiel turned to her aide in total shock, but before she could say a word, the angel launched a wind blast against her, knocking her into the far wall. Turning, he hit Athos with a stun blast.

Indulgent Charity rose from his back and struck Urd's shackles with a spell, breaking them open.

"We have to get you out of here," the angel told her, helping her to her feet. "Quickly. They will be coming."

He turned to the door and hesitated just long enough for the Grigori agent standing there to put an energy bolt through the angel half's head.

Indulgent Charity disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Penemue fell to the floor.

"Penemue!" Urd cried, kneeling next to the god.

She took his hand and squeezed it as the god looked up at her fearfully.

"Can you hear me?" she asked quietly.

The god looked like he was on the verge of tears. Quietly, he gasped out, "I feel so alone..."

His hand went limp in hers, and the god began to sublimate. Urd sensed more than heard the Grigori agent standing behind her. Looking up, she saw Shasiel rise and gingerly touch her bleeding lip.

"That's not how I wanted this to happen," she hissed. "But it's a start."

Urd wanted to reply, to launch herself at the goddess, but she couldn't.

It was at that moment that the lights went out.

888

Gwydion's cane clacked against the marble floor as he walked through the glass doors that housed the TOC. He found his quarry immediately and made a bee-line straight for the teal-haired goddess sitting at the communications desk.

"Excuse me, Sergeant," he began. The goddess looked up and stiffened in her chair at the sight of him.

"Yes, Sir?!"

He smiled. "It's all right, Sergeant. I just wanted to know if there were any communications from Commander Lind's team?"

"Not yet, Sir," she replied quickly.

"Would you do me a favor and let me know when something comes in?"

"Of course, Sir!"

He thanked her and stepped down toward the floating cube that showed current operations. A map of the realm network was the current slide, showing Combat Division operations occurring at that moment.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

He turned and found a captain approaching him. "Duty officer?" Gwydion asked.

"Yes, Sir," the captain replied. "Unauthorized members really aren't supposed to be in the TOC... Sir."

"I just came to check my messages," Gwydion said with a forced smile. Typical Division crap. Everyone was concerned about their little piece of the pie.

He was turning to leave when things got interesting.

The cube went dark. Computer terminals around the room started flashing incomprehensible code.

"Sitrep!" the captain demanded. His head darted back and forth. "What's going on?"

"No idea!" another valkyrie cried back.

"TOC, ECP!" a voice came over the loudspeaker. "Are we on lockdown? The main gate forcefield just slammed down on us! So did the armory door! TOC, what's going on?"

_Oh, Almighty,_ Gwydion thought. _It's starting._

"Everyone just stay calm!" the captain cried. "Comm, get me Central Dogma. It sounds like a network problem."

"Comm is spotty at best, Sir," the teal-haired woman declared.

The captain licked his lips. "Okay... What about the Commander? Can you raise her?"

Gwydion watched as another captain approached the duty officer, and the two began to talk. Talking turned to arguing. Arguing turned to bickering.

"Well, that didn't take long," Gwydion grumbled. He had always had issue with the way young officers were trained. War gods tended to stay in their posts for centuries, with the least experienced getting the night shift in the TOC. It was a crummy way to teach, and the professor in him was irate about it.

"We should try to get in contact with the Commander... or..." the duty officer said.

"Initiate a recall," the other said.

As Gwydion watched, the comm officer he spoke to earlier approached him. "Sir?"

He turned and found the girl looking up at him with haunted eyes. "This... This just came in... Right before the computers went..." Her shaking hand held up a print-out. "It's from the Roundtable."

The teacher snatched it up and read it quickly. His eyes closed painfully as the letters came together in words he dreaded seeing.

"We should wait for the Commander's orders!" the duty officer roared.

"Command Lind is dead," Gwydion announced loudly.

Suddenly, every eye in the room was on him. He continued more quietly.

"The reconnaissance team has been completely wiped out," he finished.

"Almighty," the second captain breathed. "Almighty..."

"Charon was with her," the duty officer said, speaking of Lind's vice commander. "Who... Who's in command now?"

"_That path is not mine,_" he thought, remembering what he had told Lind. He looked down at the message again. He had never wanted to leave. Then he didn't want to go back. First Gaeriel, now Lind. What kind of teacher fears a path his students willingly follow?

_Mourn her later,_ he thought. _If you want to honor her now, do what she would have asked you to do._

He crumpled the paper in his hand and turned to the assembled gods. "Tactical!" he barked. A diminutive god sitting at a station in the corner looked up. "Start a plot," Gwydion ordered. "I need to know the location and disposition of every combat unit within three realms whether we can speak to them or not. COMPUSEC! Disconnect our computers from the Yggdrasil system and put them on the back-up server. The network has been compromised."

He pointed at one of the captains. "You, go downstairs and get Captain Yazlyn up here on the double." Rather than argue, the captain rushed to obey. "Comm!"

"Sir!" the teal-haired valkyrie replied quickly.

"I want you to send a message to every unit that can still receive." The goddess rushed forward with an infopad and light pen. "Message begins..."

As she copied the message, the goddess couldn't help but feel a little hope seep back into her.

888

At first, Skuld thought Eddas was playing some kind of joke on her, but it became more obvious the more she probed that it was nothing of the kind. It was deadly serious. A forcefield had been erected around the airlocks, effectively locking her inside the Arch Falcon and everyone else out. Not only that, but all the travel mediums were locked as well, something she only found out after trying to jump into a sink and emerging not only soaking wet but having to endure the sound of Eddas laughing at her.

She was still fiddling with the lock-out system when Eddas' voice came over the speaker.

SKULD, I HAVE JUST INTERCEPTED A CODED TRANSMISSION FROM THE COMBAT DIVISION HEADQUARTERS. IT APPEARS TO BE FROM YOUR FRIEND, GWYDION.

"Sensei?!" She hopped up from her chair and rushed back to the command deck. Looking up at the main screen, she saw several lines of code.

THE TRANSMISSION IS PROTECTED BY DIVISION PROTOCOL CODES. VERY ADVANCED.

"Can you decod..."

As she asked this, the word "ACCESSED" appeared next to each line in succession.

MESSAGE DECODED.

Skuld smiled. "That's my Eddas," she whispered.

WHAT WAS THAT? I COULD NOT HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF HOW AWESOME I AM.

"What does the message say?" Skuld asked, eyebrow twitching.

"TO: ALL 1CD UNITS. PRIORITY ONE. URGENT. MESSAGE BEGINS: MASSIVE INSURGENT ATTACK UNDERWAY. AM TAKING COMMAND OF DIVISION. ALL 1CD UNITS CAPABLE REPORT TO PREARRANGED RALLY POINTS FOR IMMEDIATE REFORMATION AND COUNTERATTACK. //SIGNED// GWYDION, COL. 1CD/CC."

"Did his message get through?" she asked.

THE COMMUNICATIONS GRID APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN SABOTAGED AT SEVERAL DECENTRALIZED LEVELS. IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THIS MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED BY MORE THAN NINE PERCENT OF ITS INTENDED RECIPIENTS.

She bit her lip. "We have to help them."

I CAN BOOST THE SIGNAL USING OUR TRANSREALMIC BEACON AND RETRANSMIT THE MESSAGE.

"Good! You do that! In the meantime, I'm going down to engineering and getting you ready to fly!"

FLY? WHY WOULD I NEED TO FLY?

Skuld looked at the red orb in surprise. "What do you mean? You saw the message. There's an attack going on right now! Our friends are in trouble!"

YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN TROUBLE. ALL OF MY FRIENDS ARE RIGHT HERE.

"How can you say that?" Skuld asked. "My sister! My teacher! They're probably out there fighting right now! We _have_ to help!"

THIS IS NOT MY CONCERN. EVEN IF IT WERE, I AM NOT A WARSHIP.

"Darn it! This is your home too, isn't it?!" Skuld screamed at him.

"Look, Eddas," she began again quietly. "If you don't want to fight, that's fine. Just please send the message, then help me find a way through the forcefield so I can go help."

YOU WILL GO REGARDLESS?

She nodded.

Eddas was silent for several moments, processing this latest development.

I WILL NOT ALLOW MY WOMAN TO FACE DANGER ALONE. THAT IS NOT HOW I ROLL. I WILL ASSIST YOU.

She swallowed back tears. "Thank you," she whispered.

I AM CURRENTLY AT 99 PERCENT ENGINE CAPABILITY. MINOR CALIBRATION TO MY DIRECTIONAL ARRAY, AND I WILL BE READY FOR SHORT RANGE FLIGHT. PROCEED TO DECK THREE, SECTION TEN. I WILL GUIDE YOU.

Skuld rushed for the stairway.

888

"What the devil is going on here?!" Urd heard Shasiel cry. Behind her, Urd heard a door open and felt someone grab her hand, pulling her through the door. Deciding the new unknown was better than the sure trouble she already had, she let the hand guide her.

They were running along the outer wall of Central Dogma when the moonlight from the windows finally let her see who held her hand.

"Peorth?!"

The goddess looked back at her. "I was in the lobby when you came in! I followed you!"

"Did you cut the lights?!" Urd demanded.

"No, but I knew when they went out it was now or never!" She stopped next to an emergency ladderway and started down it. "I have a feeling things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better!"

"It's a good bet!" Urd agreed, following her.

888

"Reporting as ordered, Sir," Yazlyn said with a sharp salute.

Gwydion was looking down at the comm reports. What little they were able to get was disheartening to say the least.

"They used the function codes to initiate emergency lockdowns not only here but in Central Dogma, Grigori Headquarters and the Enforcement Branch, anywhere that housed gods and goddesses with the ability to fight or resist," Gwydion said.

"What are they doing?" Yazlyn asked.

"Making their move," Gwydion told her. "They lock us in here then just go building to building, wiping us out in our sleep. Thank the Almighty that Urd and Peorth got _that_ function code removed."

"Gwydion?"

"Let's just say that thanks to those two we still have a couple of surprises up our sleeves," he told her. "The Favrashi want to take us in one piece. That's why they won't use heavy weapons and neither will we. Not here in Heaven. They're going to be coming. When they do, it'll be our one chance to break out of this trap. I need troops and weapons."

"Troops are easy," Yazlyn told him. "There were about sixty guys from the Special Troops Battalion, mostly personnelists and finance guys working late, but they're all rated. Weapons are going to be an issue unless you can get that forcefield around the armory dropped."

"You'd think someone would have thought of this contingency," Gwydion said, biting his lip.

After a moment of thought, Yazlyn brightened. "Maybe they did," she said quietly. She pointed at two valkyries. "You two! Come with me!" She started out of the TOC.

"Where are you going?!" Gwydion cried.

"To break some shit!" Yazlyn called back.

888

Yazlyn, followed by nearly thirty avenging angels, entered the main lobby. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked around and nodded. "You!" she called, pointing at the elderly god sitting behind the information desk.

"Yes, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Do these still work?" she asked, gesturing to the various museum pieces littering the lobby.

"Madame! The Elder Gods fashioned those weapons themselves! They were made to last!"

"Excellent!" Yazlyn declared, picking up a nearby stanchion. Gripping it two-handed, she swung as the horrified god looked on and smashed the glass holding a set of swords once owned by the war god, Aries.

"Everyone, grab a weapon!" she shouted. "Pixie, stop slobbering! That's too much hammer for you."

The younger goddess turned back from staring at Mjolnir. "But Captain! Can't I just try to..."

"NO!"

"Fine!" the valkyrie pouted, going in search of something else.

Yazlyn reached into a case and pulled out a long, red lance. It hummed to life in her hand. She looked at the inscription on the display plate.

_This lance, Fire Sprite, was wielded by the Lady Frigga during the First War Against God._

The valkyrie smiled. Having met Frigga, she had a hard time imagining the goddess wielding a weapon. Then again, having also seen the lengths she went through to protect her daughters, maybe she shouldn't.

"Everyone got something?" she called out.

"Ready over here! Now it's our turn to kick some ass!"

"CURAHEE!" the others replied.

888

"So, can you fill me in yet?" Peorth asked bitterly as the two climbed. Originally, the plan was to get to the ground floor and escape, but Urd nixed that idea and insisted they climb up. Whatever was happening, Central Dogma was a target, and the two of them might be the only people with an idea of what was going on who could stop it.

Urd quietly began to tell the story from the beginning. They had time. Several floors lay ahead of them and the maintenance tube was too narrow to fly through. They had to do it the old fashioned way, up a ladder.

In the time they had made it up another three floors, Urd had finished summarizing what she was doing with Shasiel in Central Dogma.

Peorth shook her head in disbelief. "It's so hard to believe. They killed him? Right there?"

"Yeah," Urd said sadly. "All he ever wanted was an end to this crap. For both sides to live together, and they shot him for it."

"So... These things... These... Favrashi..." Peorth said in an uncomfortable tone. "They can take over a god who already has an angel and just... take over their life?"

"It almost happened to Belldandy," Urd told her. "Who knows how many others they got to. But most of them, I think, were simply 'born' that way when their hosts first swallowed an angel egg. It's kind of sad when you think about it. They didn't have a choice either, really."

They reached the end of the shaft with a green, glowing arrow pointing at the exit hatch. "We're on the fifteenth floor," Peorth told her. "We have to circle around to the alternate tunnel now."

"Be careful when you stick your head out," Urd warned. "They're probably already in the building."

Peorth nodded and pushed the hatch door open quietly. Taking a quick look, she nodded and waved Urd up. The two emerged in an outer hallway identical to the one they had left on the seventh floor.

"This way," Peorth whispered, starting down the hall.

The building was still dark, but the ambient light from outside made the two goddesses feel exposed. Moving quickly and quietly, they hurried down the hall. They were passing an open set of reinforced blast doors when they saw someone turn the corner ahead of them.

Then two more...

Then another five...

"Oh, crap!" Urd hissed, skidding to as top. She turned and found several more people coming toward them from the other direction.

"Well, well, well," the one in the lead declared as he approached. "The impurity."

Urd growled at the slur and prepared for an attack. "Peorth, when I say 'run,' you..."

Instead, Peorth stepped forward.

"It's about time you idiots showed up," she said angrily. "I've been entertaining this mongrel moron for over an hour!"

Urd looked at her in dawning horror. "Peorth?"

The goddess turned to her. "My name," she growled. "... is Yankee Rose."

888

"Yazlyn, our spotters on the roof are seeing gods starting to form up just outside the ECP," she heard Gwydion's voice come in over the comm unit at her throat. "Looks like this is it."

"Roger," she said, giving several hand gestures to her valkyries.

"Remember the plan," he told her. "Take out as many as you can on the way out, but you _have_ to get to Central Dogma. If they hold that, it's over..."

"If they get Dogma's Point Defense Grid up..." she began.

"Then this building is rubble," Gwydion finished. "Clear Dogma room by room if you have to."

His voice paused for a moment. Someone was probably giving him a report.

"They're moving small field pieces into position," he told her. "Get ready."

888

Simple Man raised his hand and waited for his group of faithful to assemble. Although some of the function codes they had activated hadn't worked, they still had the majority of those who would resist locked in their own buildings. All that was left was to go in there and clear them out. Those that resisted would be killed. Those who surrendered would be made into hosts for the next generation.

Everything was going exactly as the leaders had said it would. The decadent society the gods had created was not prepared to stand against a threat from within, and the Favrashi had carefully moved the chess pieces around until they were ready to strike.

This was the last hammer blow.

"Open it!" he cried. "First team, get ready!"

One of the other Favrashi opened a holotop and inserted a function code, sending it through a short-range broadband signal to the Combat Division Headquarters.

The forcefield around the entry control point dropped, and the doors opened, revealing nothing but darkness inside.

"Go!" he ordered.

Fifteen Favrashi, gods from all walks of life, leapt forward, weapons raised.

It was as they were crossing the threshold that things turned for the worse.

With cries of fury, thirty or forty valkyries flew out of the doorway, cutting a path through the Favrashi fighters like they were cutting the grass on the HQ lawn. Two of his focused-energy field pieces fired, and two of the valkyries were turned to steam as the purple energy blasts struck them, but many more replaced them.

"Retreat! Fall back!" he cried. "RUN!"

Simple Man, simply put, was not a military commander. A military commander never would have turned his back on the enemy, but he did, and Yazlyn ran a spear straight through it as he ran.

The valkyrie hopped onto one of the abandoned field pieces and shouted for two other valkyries to push it around. She got three, the gods turning the artillery piece around to face the other nearby, which was frantically turning to face them. It was a race. First one to fire got to survive.

"COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" Yazlyn screamed. She pushed her eyes against the targeting orb and grabbed hold of the trigger crystal. She saw the other piece come into view, turning quickly toward them.

The reticule went from green to red, and she pulled.

A blast of focused energy slammed into the Favrashi-held gun, completely destroying it.

Yazlyn hopped down and retrieved two green orbs from the god she had stabbed. "Let's go!" she cried, circling one orb with her finger. Turning, she tossed it into the intact gun's seat and took off into the air.

On the ground behind her, the orb flashed, turning the gun into a glass statue.

"They're in the air!" she heard Pixie say. "They've got top cover!"

"All valkyries engage!" Yazlyn ordered.

888

"Colonel, Round Hammer reports the ECP is cleared and they have engaged aerial contacts," the communications goddess reported.

"Any contact from our other units?" he asked.

"Nothing yet, Sir," the commo reported.

"Any squawks from the angels?" he asked.

"They must be using different frequencies," she told him.

"Keep on it."

He turned to the view-cube, which was now showing a series of red and blue dots representing the battle raging in the sky above their building.

"Two-Five engaging!"

"Two-Two engaging!"

He could hear weapons fire come from over the comm net.

"Come on," he whispered. "Come on."

"Colonel!" He turned to the god at the COMPUSEC station. "Sir, I'm reading a short-range broadband signal. I think it's a data upload."

"Damn! Yazlyn! This is Gwydion! They're trying to use a function code! Do you feel anything?"

888

Yazlyn banked hard and let the enemy god shoot by. Grunting as she rolled left and turned again, she raised the lance and fired off a series of heat bolts as Gwydions frantic voice came over the comm.

"Do you feel anything?!"

She watched the angel's wings catch fire and start to fall from the sky. Grinning, she replied back through the comm. "Nothing but recoil, Sir!"

"Thank you, Peorth," he whispered.

Something caught her eye. One of her valkyries had been hit and was tumbling across the sky. "Pixie! Pixie! You have to straighten out!"

"Shit! Shit! I can't! No joy! No joy! Oh, Almighty, help..." Her cry was cut off as a series of energy bolts tore through her, turning her to dust where she flew.

Yazlyn turned to go after the angel, but something slammed into her wing, causing her to spin. Feeling a searing heat, she looked up at her right and found a smoldering hole the size of a dinner plate in her wing.

"I'm all right!" she called and returned to the fight.She raised the lance again and fired. The old weapon was heavier and clunkier than what she was used to, the almost delicate but streamlined weapons that had evolved over the millenia. But she had to admit as another Favrashi vanished in a cloud of vapor that the weapons had been made well.

"Hold on, guys!" she cried.

888

The angels looked to one another in confusion. Their leader addressed Peorth as an incredulous Urd looked on.

"You are of the faithful?" he asked warily.

"Didn't Penemue tell you idiots anything?" Peorth cried. "I'm your back-up contact."

He looked back and forth between the goddesses. "You will forgive us, I hope, if we require more than just your word."

Peorth rolled her eyes. "Very well!" She raised her arm and Gorgeous Rose... or Yankee Rose, as she was calling herself now, rose from Peorth's back.

The blonde angel raised her arms above her head and closed her eyes as if in preparation to deliver a sermon. The angel opened her mouth...

And bolts of lightning shot from her hands into the ceiling, bringing chunks of marble the size of compact cars down on them all.

Urd felt Peorth grab her hand. "RUN!"

"Impure filth!" the Favrashi leader cried. "Get them!"

Peorth dragged Urd through the blast doors and turned, tapping the control panel for several seconds as the doors closed. When they were finally sealed, the goddess blasted the panel with an energy bolt. Nodding at her work, she said, "I've disconnected the door from the network, so they can't open it from the other side. We should be safe."

She turned and found Urd pointing at her, lightning dancing on the tip of her finger.

"Urd?!"

"Don't move," Urd told her. "I don't know who's who anymore, whether that was just a trick or just a way to cement your story with me... But I'm going it alone from here on out."

"I know you're not pointing that at me," Peorth hissed. "After I just saved your life!"

Urd paused, unsure once again. Finally, she lowered her arm. Peorth let out a relieved breath.

"Dammit," Urd hissed. "It's exactly what they want us to do, distrust one another, fight amongst ourselves."

Peorth didn't reply as Urd turned away to see exactly what room they had locked themselves into. Instead, she regarded the door and nodded appreciatively. "This should keep them out. Besides, they have bigger fish to fry right now. They'll probably just leave us be and go do whatever it is they're here to do."

"Um... Peorth..."

"Hai?"

Urd just shook her head and pointed. Peorth followed her finger and saw what made Urd pause.

The Angel Tree sat on a small island in the middle of the chamber, thousands of angel eggs hanging precariously from its branches.

Peorth stamped her foot as the blast door shook on its hinges. "DAMMIT!"

888

Things did not get better.

Belldandy, as was her nature, found a way to blame herself. Usually, people praised her for her work, no matter what she was doing. Perhaps she had just gotten used to that and when faced with someone with honest criticism, she was just taking it too hard.

Or maybe Mariko Morisato was just a cold-hearted bi...

_No! Don't use that language! Grandmother Morisato is just set in her ways and views things differently. She is one of The Almighty's creatures and Keiichi's grandmother and a good person..._

She sighed. All day it had been something. Mariko ate breakfast with them and constantly reassured Belldandy that all she needed was a lot more practice at cooking Japanese food to do it competently. When Belldandy cleaned the kitchen, the woman actually came in with a white glove to check for dust.

The goddess just couldn't understand why Mariko disliked her so much. As a goddess, she couldn't really wrap her mind around the concept of racism. The closest she had seen was Yazlyn's dislike of her sister, but that was because Urd was half demon and the woman had been through a tremendous ordeal at their hands. It was almost... _almost_... justifiable. But this...

Keiichi had come to her rescue, though, and even pushed some money into her hands, from what hidden piggy bank she had no idea, and told her to go into town and get groceries. It didn't matter what.

That's how she came to be walking past the kitchen window toward the door when she overheard them talking.

"You're not even giving her a chance," Keiichi said angrily.

"That's why I'm here, Keiichi chan," Mariko told him soothingly, like a woman addressing an idiot child. "And so far she has failed overwhelmingly to impress me in even the most basic things."

"Based on what standard?" Keiichi asked incredulously. "I've got two words for you when it comes to Belldandy, 'Yamato Nadeshico.' She's more of a traditional Japanese woman than half the women in Japan!"

"I just don't see it."

"Really?" Keiichi asked, and Belldandy could see her fiancé in her mind, folding his arms over his chest. "Maybe you could see it if you had some big, round western eyes, is that it?"

"I don't know what you're implying, Keiichi chan," she said again in that condescending tone. "I'm sorry, but she's not the kind of woman I want marrying into this family. She's condescending and rude, and honestly, any woman who tattoos her face must be some kind of demented freak. I just do not approve, and that's what I'm going to tell the family."

The last sentence echoed inside Belldandy's skull, bouncing from side to side, taunting her with each new iteration. She took a few steps back and ran off.

888

Yazlyn must have only been thirty feet from it when the forcefield around Central Dogma snapped into existence in front of her. She spread her wounded wings as wide as she could to slow down and pulled into a climb.

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" she screamed. "Arc Light, this is Round Hammer! Central Dogma's PDG just went live!"

As if to emphasize the point, the top section of the building's tallest tower started to rotate.

"Shit!" she muttered. "PDG is live! Repeat! PDG is live! All valkyries, BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!"

As one, thirty gods and goddesses flew off in different directions just as a ruby-red beam of heat and light shot from the minaret, cutting a swath of destruction across the sky.

"All right, Gwydion," she muttered. "What do we do now?"

888

The Almighty took a long breath as he looked out his window at the tiny points of light swarming around nearby Central Dogma, each one representing a life he created, each one being snuffed out one by one.

He felt her presence rather than heard or saw her. Turning his one eye toward her, he waited for her to speak.

Marella looked at him with moist eyes. "Will you do nothing?" she asked in quiet incredulity.

"It's not my place to," he told her quietly. "It's their fight."

She nodded. "Then I request your leave to go and join it."

He regarded her for several moments. Marella had been at his side for a very long time. She had never asked for a new assignment or complained about this one.

_You told them it was their fight,_ he thought.

He nodded. Without a word, Marella turned and left.

888

"I think we're screwed, Old Man," Yazlyn's voice came over the comm as Gwydion went from station to station, checking last minute updates.

"Anyone who doesn't have to be here as a matter of life and death, clear the TOC!" Gwydion cried. All but he and three gods rushed out of the room.

"We're going to need something bigger than what we've got to get through that forcefield," Yazlyn continued.

"I have the network guys trying to shut it down from here," Gwydion told her quickly.

"Gwydion..." He heard the change in her tone. "Gwydion, it's turning toward HQ. You've got to get out of there."

He turned to the cube and found she was right. The glowing red point of the minaret was turning toward them.

"COMM!" he shouted. "Start dumping our data connections off-site!"

The communications goddesses started frantically transferring command and control functions to other Division units.

The minaret turned and stopped, facing directly at them. Gwydion felt like it was aiming at him personally.

He straightened his shoulders and thought of Urd. Turning, he caught the eyes of each of the remaining avenging angels and valkyries in the TOC.

"Be proud," he said quietly. "Today you shook the pillars of Heaven. It has truly been my honor."

Bracing himself, he didn't see the flashes of green light strike the forcefield surrounding Central Dogma.

"Sir!" the commo cried, pointing at the cube.

He turned and saw the red point of the minaret turning away from them, toward some new threat.

"What is that?!" he demanded.

The avenging angel at tactical rechecked his board. "Sir, it's one of the Great Ships!"

888

Skuld was thrown to the deck as a flash of ruby energy from the minaret struck them dead on.

THAT ASSHOLE. HE JUST RUINED MY NEW BONDO JOB.

"Well shoot back!" Skuld cried.

I AM FIRING ALL OF MY AVAILABLE WEAPONS. THEIR FORCEFIELD IS QUITE STRONG.

"But you're one of Heaven's Great Ships!" Skuld cried. "Surely you got something like a Super MAC gun on board! Or phasers! Or photon torpedoes!"

I TOLD YOU. I WAS NOT DESIGNED AS A WARSHIP. I AM A GOD-FEARING, PEACE-LOVING MAN OF THE PEOPLE.

The ship shuddered again.

"That talks smack when he cheats at TF!" Skuld said accusingly.

I TOLD YOU CAMPING IS A LEGITIMATE STRATEGY...

Another strike knocked Skuld to the floor with a yipe. "So what do we do now?!" she cried.

WE MUST HIT THEM WITH A LARGER PROJECTILE.

"You just said you didn't have a MAC gun! What projectile are you going to hit them with?!"

YOU ARE STANDING ON IT.

888

Urd could feel the rumbling beneath her feet and knew it wasn't coming from the angels trying to get through the door. The fighting outside must be close.

She looked up at the Angel Tree, and Penemue's conversation with her replayed in her head. It had to be why they were here. They didn't want Yggdrasil at all. They wanted the Angel Tree. Without it, they couldn't procreate. Their race would die out.

"What do we do now?" Peorth asked.

Urd found herself transfixed by the tree. Slowly, World of Elegance rose from her body and stared at the branches. "Maybe... we'll just stay here awhile," Urd said quietly. "See what happens."

"O...kay," Peorth drawled out, unnerved by Urd's behavior. "You veg, I'm going to try to barricade the door."

Urd gazed at the tree, the grave of Cordelia and Ukko. This was where this entire situation was born.

_Burn it,_ a part of her mind urged. _If you destroy it, you win. It might take centuries, but the Favrashi will die out..._

She looked up and found World of Elegance looking down at her in disapproval. For a half-second, Urd didn't know if the look came from an angel or her own conscience.

Looking down at the tree again, she decided against it. Angels, even many of the sentient ones, wanted nothing more than to live their lives with their hosts. Genocide wasn't right when the Favrashi wanted it; it was no more right for the gods.

The door banged again.

"I just wish you could tell them to stop," she said quietly. She stepped forward, through the shallow pond in which the tree sat, and she and World of Elegance both reached out to touch the tree's trunk.

"The Almighty said we've never been challenged before," she whispered. "Maybe that made us arrogant. Maybe if we weren't so sure of our place in Creation, thought on it more, maybe the Favrashi wouldn't have had to feel like they _had_ to hide."

"_We are all children of God,"_ she heard in her mind, and stepped back in fright. The branches moved slightly as if caught in a breeze. Tentatively, she reached out again and touched the bark of the tree.

"What do they want?" she asked.

"_A world without sin," _the tree replied. _"A world in their image. A world they can show The Almighty so he will look at them with favor. They want what you were given freely. They want to live and love and die peacefully, knowing that their lives were lived with purpose."_

"How?"

"_By starting anew. Their future will be built on the charred remains of your past."_

"And peace?" Urd asked. "Penemue... Indulgent Charity... thought there could be peace..."

"_You could have peace with them right now. Give up. Become their cattle. Give them what they want, and you will know peace. Everyone wants peace. But peace at such a price is too dearly bought."_

Urd wasn't exactly sure which side the tree was on. "What do you want?" she asked it.

"_I want my children to live and love and die peacefully, knowing their lives were lived with purpose. Is that not what every parent wants for their children?"_

888

"I'm sorry. The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please hang up and dial again..."

Belldandy looked at the receiver in shock. Surely she hadn't misdialed. She knew the sixty-four digit direct line to Heaven by heart. Hanging up, she dialed again and got the same message.

Giving up, she placed the phone back in its cradle. She had wanted to talk to Urd or to Frigga. Now even that was denied to her.

Sighing, she stepped out of the phone booth and looked up at the setting sun. It was time to face Keiichi.

It was dark when she finally stepped through the front door. Keiichi was there in a flash, a concerned looked on his face.

"Belldandy!" Reaching out, he hugged her. "Are you all right? Where have you been?"

She hugged back, but uncertainly. "I overheard you and your grandmother," she whispered. "I want you to know... that I understand..."

He pulled away and gave her a puzzled look. "Understand what?"

She gazed at her feet. "I understand if you can't marry me because your family doesn't accept me," she said.

Keiichi responded by pulling her by the hand into their bedroom. Once they were inside, he turned to her. "Can you put some kind of charm on the door so no one can hear?"

The goddess nodded and set about putting a silencing spell on the room. When she was finished, Keiichi began in earnest.

"Look, Belldandy, I know there's a lot of things you still don't understand about life here on Earth, but let me just dispel you on one thing. I love you, and I'm going to marry you. If my family has an issue with it, it's their problem, not yours. Obaasan can make all the declarations she wants, stamp her feet and hold her breath until she's blue in the face, but I'll make my own decisions on who I fall in love with."

"But... your grandmother..." Belldandy searched for a good way to explain it. "She's your elder. She deserves to be listened to... I mean, if my father had told you you couldn't marry me, that would have been the end of it."

"If you had said that before we got engaged, I think maybe so," he said quietly. "But truth be told, now that you and I are really together, I'm not sure I could live without you. I've nearly lost you so many times in the past, and if demons and angel eaters couldn't break us up then I'm not about to let that shriveled old bat do it. If necessary, I'd take you and go somewhere else in the world, start over with you..."

"Keiichi, this is your home..."

He responded by embracing her. "No," he said into her ear. "That's what you don't understand, what you can't seem to get. My home is where ever you happen to be. This..." He squeezed her. "...is _home_!"

She choked back a sob and let it die in her throat. Tears moistened her eyes. How did she get so lucky? What had she ever done to deserve this kind of devotion? "Oh, Keiichi," she choked out.

"This is easy stuff, Belldandy," he said, smiling as he hugged her. "If you want to be with me, then be with me."

"I want to be with you!" she cried, squeezing him so hard her wings popped from her back. "I want to be with you! I want to be your wife! I want to have your children! And I never want to be away from your side ever again!"

She punctuated this by kissing him. Her wings wrapped around him, refusing even the possibility of him escaping her.

Keiichi kissed her and mentally sighed in relief. His grandmother's antics were getting old. It was time to take action.

888

It was past midnight when the rat scampered across the kitchen floor toward the small plate of cheese Belldandy sama always left for him before bed. Seeing the hunk of cheddar lying there, stars appeared in his eyes and he clasped his hands together in joy.

"Oh, Belldandy sama!" he crooned. "It isn't even moldy!" He dived for it and didn't notice until too late the wok slamming over him.

He screamed and covered his face with his front paws. "NOT THE FACE! NOT THE FACE!"

"Mitsuo Iwata san?" he heard someone whisper.

He peeked through his paws. "Hai?"

Keiichi looked at him through the holes in the wok. "You and I need to talk."

888

"What are you talking about?" Skuld demanded. "Eddas..."

The red orb turned to her as the ship shook again. He was right. The Arch Falcon wasn't a warship, and it wouldn't take much more of this kind of punishment.

I THINK IT IS TIME YOU LOGGED OUT, SKULD.

Skuld looked at the main viewer and saw the ship's course had changed. They were heading directly for the minaret and accelerating.

"Eddas..." she whispered, shaking her head.

NOW, PLEASE. THE ESCAPE PODS ARE ON THE LEFT. PLEASE DO NOT GET ALL WEEPY AND SHIT.

She took an unsteady breath, then rushed forward and planted her lips on top of the red orb. "Thank you!" she whispered. Then, turning, she rushed for the escape pods.

SWEET.

The AI turned his attention to the tower as it rapidly filled the screen.

PREPARE TO BE P0WNED.

888

Yazlyn watched in awe as a blast of crimson light reached out and slammed into the ship racing toward it. The Arch Falcon listed and turned slightly to port, and for a moment, the valkyrie thought the ship would miss, and it almost did. But the ship's right wing caught the tower just below the minaret, slicing it through it like bread, not even slowing the Great Ship down as it crashed in the park on the far side of Central Dogma.

A massive fireball threatened to burn her skin as the ship exploded. The minaret, meanwhile, swung downward and crashed into the courtyard below.

888

The quake, or whatever it was, threw Urd and Peorth to the ground.

"What's going on?!" Peorth cried.

On the other side of the door, they heard footfalls frantically running away.

Urd blinked. "I... I think we won..."

888

Everyone in the TOC but Gwydion cheered at the sight. The professor just watched, haunted by the sight of the crashing ship he knew carried his student.

"Colonel!" the comm officer cried. "Round Hammer reports the enemy units are breaking contact. She's asking for permission to pursue."

Gwydion swallowed back grief. This wasn't the time. "Permission granted."

The comm officer grinned, flush with victory and the relief that came with survival. "Round Hammer, Arc Light. Permission granted. Light 'em up!"

Gwydion turned back to the cube, watching the fire burning in the park on the far side of Central Dogma. Swallowing, he turned to the duty officer from which he took command.

"Captain... Take command. Send a team to secure Central Dogma... There's something I have to do."

"Yes, Sir."

Silently, Gwydion limped out of the TOC.

888

Mariko frowned as her eyes opened, straining to once again pick up the sound that had woken her from her sleep. She rose to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. Hearing it again, the sound of tiny claws skittering somewhere, made her hold herself in fear.

_Rats! More rats! Of course that gaijin wouldn't let just one rat in..._

She resolved right there to renew the pressure on Keiichi to break off his engagement and pursue a more wholesome girl. That Bearcandy girl just wasn't right for him.

Her eyes went to a small dresser sitting directly across from her. There! She saw it! A big grey rat was climbing up the side of the furniture, dragging something behind it. She froze in fear. She hated rats! Hated! Hated! Hated them!

The creature managed to pull himself up and turned to pull up whatever it was he was dragging. It was then that Mariko arched an eyebrow. Was it her imagination or was that rat wearing a pair of tiny moon boots?

It paid no attention to her as it pulled its cargo onto the dresser. She shook her head in disbelief as the rat adjusted the I-Pod and portable speaker. Looking into the display, it turned the touch-wheel and pressed play before turning to her and putting its hands at its sides.

Something fast-paced started playing from the speaker and the rat moved from side to side in time with the music.

"_You know... this boogie is for reeeeaal..."_

Suddenly, the rat turned and threw its forepaws in the air as it shook its tail at her.

"Kami sama..." she whispered fearfully. "It's dancing at me..."

"_Nothing else for me to do but DANCE!" _the I-Pod crooned.

The rat moonwalked across the dresser, and Mariko only made it halfway through the rat's rendition of the Funky Grandpa before she finally wigged out and ran from the room screaming.

888

"No, Mom, I had no idea!" Keiichi cried worriedly into the phone. "I hope she feels better. You know, she did seem to be getting a little... weird... before she left." He arched an eyebrow and whispered conspiratorially into the receiver. "Did... did she tell you she saw a dancing rat?"

He sighed dramatically. "It's such a shame. She and Belldandy were getting along so well too. Then suddenly, she started talking about dancing rats and how awful Belldandy was and... Yeah, I know. Well, I'm sure when she's had plenty of rest, she'll be her old self again. Okay, I love you too, Mom. Ja!"

The college student hung up and grinned. "Oh, Grandma," he sighed with a shake of his head. "Don't ever screw with my family again." Turning, he found Gan chan poking his head out one of his rat holes. Keiichi gave him a thumbs up, and the rat responded with a victory sign before taking a huge bite out of the hunk of smoked cheddar Keiichi left for him.

888

It was Hell in Heaven where Gwydion walked, using his cane to push aside pieces of burning debris from the Arch Falcon. The park where the Great Ship crashed used to be a place where young gods and goddesses practiced magic or walked hand-in-hand. Now it was a burning wasteland. Not a single tree remained upright, and the small pond that once sat in the center of the park had evaporated away.

His eyes darted to and fro as he upended pieces of metal and wood. She couldn't be alive. He knew that. But there would be something remaining of her. He hadn't been able to bring Saraswati her daughter's sword or jewelry. He _would_ bring _something_ to Frigga.

The more he searched, the more the guilt gnawed at him. He had sent Gaeriel to the Roundtable, and she had been killed. He had recommended checking the same realm to Lind, and now she was gone. He had sent Skuld to the Arch Falcon, believing it would be out of the line of fire, and...

He fell to one knee, letting the pain of his curse slam into him. For the first time in a very long time, he barely felt it. His guilt outweighed his pain.

Gwydion was cursed, but not by Hild, and he saw that now. Every student he touched was sacrificed, sacrificed to the common good, yes, but a sacrifice all the same. Did The Almighty know? Did he know that by entrusting his daughter to Gwydion, he was sending her to her death?

Of course he knew. He was The Almighty.

And that just made it hurt more.

He looked up at the sky, gray and foreboding with smoke from the fires still raging throughout the city.

"Skuld," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Sensei!"

He blinked. At first he thought she was answering him from beyond the grave. He then thought that this was it, and he had finally just went insane.

"Sensei!"

He turned to the right and found her standing there, her face smudged with ash and dirt.

"Skuld?" he whispered again.

She ran up to him and tackled him, crying into his uniform shirt! He didn't even feel it.

"Sensei!" she cried, tears running down her face.

He closed his eyes and hugged her. "Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded, sobbing.

Opening his eyes, he looked up and had to choke back another wave of emotion.

Urd stood maybe fifty feet away, watching them, smiling. He offered a hand to her and she flew into the hug with them.

A minute ago, he thought it couldn't get worse. Now he knew.

It was going to be okay.

888

"Captain! You better take a look at this!"

Yazlyn turned and flew down the hall toward the Spartan who called for her. As soon as they had routed what was left of the aerial units, she had hurried to join the team securing Central Dogma. She knew whoever controlled it, controlled Heaven, and she wanted to be the one who controlled it.

He stood outside a door and gestured into it. Inside, three more Spartans stood around someone who was lying against the far wall.

"What is it?" she asked. She came up short as they parted, revealing Shasiel there.

"We think they started before the retreat and just didn't take her with them," one of the Spartans told her.

She knelt before the woman, trying to ascertain her condition. "What do you mean..." she began to ask when the head of an angel with midnight black hair emerged from her back. Shasiel's face contorted with pain, rage or effort, perhaps a mixture of the three, and the angel disappeared again.

"I will... not... be beaten... by a parasite... like you!" Shasiel hissed.

The angel's head appeared again, and Shasiel cried out in pain. "I _am_ you now," the angel whispered before disappearing again.

"You are filth!" Shasiel screamed painfully. "An abomination!"

"We are peace," the angel said again, appearing from her left shoulder this time. "We are the future."

It disappeared again.

"Someone get a goddamn medic in here!" Yazlyn barked. The Spartans ignored her blasphemy, and one of them went in search of a medical tech.

The Grigori's breathing became more frantic. For the first time, her eyes found Yazlyn's. "They want to destroy it, all of it," she panted. Her face contorted in pain. The angel was punishing her for speaking.

"All of what?" Yazlyn demanded, knowing she might not get a better source of intel _ever._ "All of Heaven?"

Shasiel threw her head from side to side. "ALL OF IT!" she screamed. "EVERY REALM! EVERYWHERE!"

"She's delirious, mate," one of the Spartans grunted.

"They have a... weapon," she gasped. "A horrible weapon... Ragnarok! They want Ragnarok!" Her head lolled back as if in some dream, her voice became a disturbing sing-song, like a little girl's. "They're going to start over, wipe the slate clean! And when we're all gone, they'll start anew!" She giggled, but the laughter morphed into sobs as even she realized what she was saying.

Her eyes found Yazlyn's again. "Don't... Don't let her take me," she begged. "Please..."

The angel's head appeared, this time from Shasiel's chest. "Creation will become Destruction, and we will have Re-Creation," it said triumphantly. "You cannot stop us. You will never stop us." It's eyes found Yazlyn's. "Your lives as they have been are over." Yazlyn stood up and unshouldered her lance. The angel disappeared again and Shasiel cried up at the ceiling.

"I... AM... SHASIEL!" she screamed, as if to prove it to herself. "Director... of The Alm... The Almighty's Grigori!"

The angel appeared next to her ear. "No," it whispered. "You are cattle."

With a disgusted sneer, Yazlyn brought the lance up and ran the blade through the Favrashi's head, burying it a foot into the wall behind it.

Shasiel gave one startled cry and went limp. Her body already beginning to sublimate.

The valkyrie pulled the weapon loose and turned to the Spartan next to her. "Find the Commander," she said quietly. "Tell him we've got bad news."

The Spartan took off while another snorted back laughter.

"Well!" he grunted. "_There's_ a switch!"


	12. Love Outlasteth All

1Disclaimer:

The poem Skuld recites is "Westward Ho," by Harry Harbord Morant. Butters is based on the character of the same name by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I don't own "Oh My Goddess," but I do love it immensely.

Foreword:

This is the final chapter of the Blessings Arc. It's a particularly bittersweet moment for me as it is to be the last piece of fanfiction I ever write as I've made the decision to start writing my own fiction instead of using the work of others. I've been writing fanfiction since 1997, starting with Tenchi Muyo then moving on to Slayers and finally Ah! My Goddess, and I think the AMG fanbase is probably the most supportive of the lot. So thank you for your readership and comments. I also want to thank WillZ for prereading this fic and having more faith in my writing than I did myself.

Blessings: Broken Bow

Chapter 12

Love Outlasteth All

_"The price of victory was our own innocence._

_Life would never be the same again."_

_Belldandy Morisato_

_"Ghosts of the Roundtable"_

Skuld rested the red orb, a large crack running through the middle, into the hole she had dug and set about covering it up again.

Gwydion watched, standing amid the ruins of the Arch Falcon, pieces of which were still burning. Skuld had insisted on staying until Eddas' CPU was found, and Gwydion remained with her. Urd had left to help the others locate the wounded and bring them to healers, but the professor refused to leave his student.

The young goddess finished and stood up, facing the grave. She clasped her hands in front of her.

"You weren't a thing," she said quietly. "As a matter of fact, I think you were the bravest man I've ever known. I wish I had better words."

Thinking for a moment, she pulled a small book from her pocket and turned to what seemed like a random page. Gwydion looked up quickly as she started to speak familiar words.

"_The night's a trifle chilly,"_ she recited. "_And the stars are very bright... A heavy dew is falling... but the fly is rigged aright;... You may rest your bones till morning, then if you chance to wake... Give me a call about the time that daylight starts to break..."_

Closing the book, she closed her eyes. "Good bye, Eddas."

When she turned, Gwydion expected tear-filled eyes. Instead, he found an intensity that was both new and familiar, a look he had seen on his students before.

"Skuld?" he asked.

"I want to fight," she told him. "Like you and Yazlyn and..." she swallowed. "And Eddas. I want to fight."

He looked down at her with conflicted eyes and sighed. "Very well," he relented. "Come with me."

888

The fighting had not been relegated only to Central Dogma or the skies above the Combat Division. The more reports Urd heard, the more she couldn't believe how lucky they had been. The Grigori had been all but wiped out, with Favrashi hunter-killer teams moving through their building floor by floor, exterminating any god they came across. Gods caught outside during the attack had tried to fight back, but many were simply swept aside by the advancing insurgents. Others had simply disappeared.

When a god or goddess died, their body sublimated, returning to the essence of The Almighty from which they were formed. This made identifying the dead very difficult. Often, a piece of clothing, a memento or piece of jewelry was all that remained.

Like the one Urd had just found.

Kneeling in the street near a shattered barricade, she could almost see what had happened. A group of gods had banded together and tried to hold off a Favrashi team, probably believing that help was on the way. But it never came.

She gripped the silver light pen in her hands and bit her lip, remembering seeing it clipped to the woman's front pocket where ever she went. Her employer had given it to her in thanks for her centuries of service. Now it was all that remained of her.

"Do you know who it was, Ma'am?" the Valkyrie standing behind her asked.

She nodded. "It's Marella," she said quietly. The goddess rose to her feet. "Someone will have to tell The Almighty," she said, starting to walk away.

"How could they do this?" the Valkyrie asked. "To their own people?"

Urd wanted to scream. The very people fighting and being killed in this "war" had no idea why war was even being waged against them. She looked down at the pen. Marella had probably died not even knowing why they were so eager to kill her.

And part of the problem was that it was a two-way street.

888

"Lord Michael," Gwydion greeted, trying to bow as the Archangel entered the Tactical Operations Center.

"Colonel," he replied, offering his hand. "Is it true? About Commander Lind?"

"I'm afraid so," the avenging angel replied, turning to the display cube. "As a matter of fact, given what we know, I'm willing to bet her death is what triggered this move."

"What makes you say that?"

On the other side of the room, Yazlyn spoke up. "Because it was sloppy. They had us, and the only thing that kept them from taking us whole was that they didn't feel they had time to double check things like the function codes. They were rushed. Whatever Lind stumbled over, it's a big deal."

"I'm sorry, you are?" Michael asked.

"I've asked Captain Yazlyn to join us," Gwydion explained. "These aren't demons. They're something totally different, and we need some serious out-of-the-box thinking before we make our next move."

"Next move?" Michael asked. "I thought they were crushed?"

Gwydion nodded to Yazlyn. "Show him."

Yazlyn tapped a few keys on her board, and her last conversation with Shasiel appeared on the display cube.

When it ended, Michael shook his head in disbelief. "She was one of them?"

"I doubt it," Yazlyn said. "Odds are they found her in Central Dogma during the attack, took her prisoner and tried to turn her when the monumental ass-kicking we handed them interrupted them."

"And this weapon?" Michael asked, turning to Gwydion.

"We don't know. If it exists, we have a fair idea of where. But we need to move very quickly."

Michael chewed his lip and nodded. "What is your plan?"

"We can't leave Heaven undefended," Yazlyn told him. "They'll expect a large-scale assault through the main hard-line that connects Heaven to the Roundtable. Which means that's where their forces are going to be."

"We intend to slip through the back door," Gwydion explained. "The Roundtable has hardlines from nearly every other realm leading to it. We're going to use one of them."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Colonel," Michael said. "But even if you go through another hardline, there's no guarantee it leads anywhere near the weapon. Wouldn't they just detect you and shift their forces to meet you?"

Gwydion looked at Yazlyn, who spoke up. "We believe we know the location of a hardline that will lead directly to the weapon. And we also have reason to believe that the Favrashi don't know of its existence."

"I see," the Archangel told them. "Very well. Colonel Gwydion, as of this moment, you are officially Division commander."

"Yes, My Lord."

Michael seemed to hesitate. "This has been a very dark day for us," he said quietly. "If you fail..."

"If we fail, My Lord, there will be literally no one left in Creation to point out our mistakes."

The god nodded. "The hopes of every life in Creation go with you then." He shook Gwydion's hand. "Commander."

With that, he walked out of the TOC, the weight of Creation on his shoulders.

Yazlyn looked to Gwydion. "What now?"

"Muster them up," he replied. "We leave for the staging area in two hours." He turned and started for the door. "In the meantime, there's something I have to do."

_"That Gwydion never sought high rank is_

_a matter of common knowledge, as is his_

_heroic attempts to keep his students from_

_following his footsteps into roles as_

_valkyries. The fact that not only did three_

_of his students did, indeed, follow him, but _

_that two of them would go on to become_

_Division Commanders themselves, proved_

_that Fate is not without a sense of irony."_

_Belldandy Morisato_

_"Ghosts of the Roundtable"_

Frigga swallowed nervously as she adjusted the jacket on her daughter. "There," she said nervously, rubbing Skuld's shoulders. She nodded as if to reassure herself of her own work. "Yes, thou lookst as one should. They... They say... a goddess who goeth to war in amber clad cannot be harmed by sling nor arrow."

Skuld nodded, squaring her shoulders and getting a feel for the outfit her mother had adjusted for her. The shirt and jacket were a very deep gold, made from reinforced quantum fibers like the kind valkyries wore.

Frigga took Skuld's face in her own. "Are thou certain thou wish to do this?" she whispered.

Skuld saw the doors open behind her mother and Gwydion emerge. She swallowed and nodded. "Lind tried to tell me something... before she died," she said quietly. "She understood." The goddess looked down at the floor. "People like Sensei and Lind and Yazlyn... I didn't understand before. But now I see it. It's more than a place, more than faces in a crowd. And I want to protect them."

"Skuld? Are you ready?" Gwydion asked.

Frigga stepped aside. Skuld nodded. "Hai."

The young goddess stepped forward, but Frigga's hand took her shoulder. At first, Skuld thought her mother was going to object. Then the matron spoke.

"I am so proud," she said, tears in her eyes. "To be the mother of a valkyrie."

Skuld blinked back tears of her own. Turning, she saw Gwydion waiting.

"Sorry, Sensei," she whispered.

"You're not a valkyrie yet, Skuld," he told her. "This is only the first step." He shook his head. "Are you absolutely certain this is the role you wish to take?"

"It's my choice, right?" Skuld asked.

"It is." He looked down at her, almost sadly. "It's a very dangerous life..."

"Hai," she replied seriously.

Nodding, he raised his hand, and she mimicked him. "I am a valkyrie of Heaven," he said.

"I am a valkyrie of Heaven," she repeated, copying him word for word as he spoke.

"I am Your sword. I am Your shield."

Gwydion heard the words and remembered the last time he had administered this oath. He could see Gaeriel, standing exactly where Skuld stood now.

"I am Your guide. I am Your guardian."

_Don't do this, _he thought. _Don't lead her down this path._

_It is she who leads me,_ he replied.

"I am Your sentry..."

Skuld saw him pause and waited, locking his eyes with hers. Finally, with a note of renewed pride, he issued the last part, and she repeated.

"I am Your avenger."

He lowered his hand. "You are a valkyrie," he said. "From this day forward, no one but The Almighty can take that away from you."

She nodded, feeling for the first time the awesome responsibility she had shouldered.

"But you are still my student until such time as I deem you ready for the trials," he told her firmly. His voice softened. "And I am proud of you."

"Thank you, Sensei."

Frigga blew her nose behind her, and Skuld sighed.

"Come on," he said. "We have work to do."

888

Keiichi opened his eyes and quietly yawned. Taking a quick look at the clock, he gently began the process of extricating himself from Belldandy's arms, a task the goddess never made easy for him. Finally succeeding, he rose and walked into the hall and toward the kitchen.

The boy filled a glass with water and pulled the cord on the blinds on the window over the sink.

He lowered the blinds, then opened them again, convinced that he must have been seeing things.

Nope, they were still there, at least a hundred people, milling around their back yard carrying equipment that looked suspiciously like weapons. He heard an engine turn over and glanced to the right, seeing some kind of six-wheeled vehicle parked where Belldandy usually hung laundry.

"Belldandy," he called.

"Hai?" the goddess called back sleepily.

"Do you know why there's a military-industrial complex in our backyard?"

Before she could answer, he saw a flash of movement pass the window.

"Gwydion! Urd!" he called through the glass.

The two gods didn't hear him. They were immersed in their own argument, which wasn't easy while Gwydion went from god to god, checking their progress.

"You should have told me!" Urd said angrily again. "You should have _asked_ me!"

"It was her decision," Gwydion replied in an effort to dodge the question. He looked over an infopad handed to him by an avenging angel.

"She's a child!" Urd growled. "And she had been through a lot! She's not a soldier! How could you just let her do this?!"

"Because we're _all_ soldiers now, that's why!" he finally shot back. "Because this isn't the kind of war where you pat the troops on the back on their way out and pretend nothing's going on until they get back! Our very existence is at stake. We resist or we perish! It's that simple!"

"What happened?" she asked quietly. "A week ago this is the last thing you would have allowed to happen."

He turned away from her for a moment, trying to find the words. Turning back a moment later, he answered. "When your father assigned me to Skuld, he said Belldandy was an expert in her field, but that he needed Skuld proficient in mine. He wouldn't explain why. I think Skuld has a larger role to play in all this, and I think The Almighty saw it from the beginning. I've fought it since the day I met her, but it's time to stop and realize that our own preferences are not what's guiding us anymore."

Realization hit Urd suddenly like a physical force causing her to step back. "You're taking her with you," she whispered in incredulous fright.

He met her gaze and nodded. "Yes."

She couldn't reply to that. There just weren't words that could justify her anger.

"Neesan! Gwydion sensei!"

Urd didn't turn to her sister's voice, instead continuing to glare at her paramour. It wasn't until Belldandy and Keiichi were actually standing there that she turned and stormed off.

"Neesan?" Belldandy asked, turning after her.

"Gwydion? What is all this?" Keiichi asked.

"There's a lot to tell you," Gwydion said quietly. "Let's talk."

888

"A hardline? Here?" Belldandy asked in shock.

Sitting at their kitchen table, Gwydion nodded before taking a sip of the tea Belldandy had prepared while he told them the story of the attack on Heaven.

"I don't get it," Keiichi admitted.

"There are points in space throughout each realm where the space is weaker," Belldandy explained to him. "Essentially doorways to other realms that are fixed in place. We call them hardlines because it's kind of like a physical phone line. Our travel mediums are like cell towers where we can go just about anywhere that particular medium exists, but there are some realms where travel mediums like mirrors or televisions don't exist."

She turned to Gwydion. "And you believe there's one here that leads to the Roundtable?"

Gwydion nodded. "Minuette's travel medium was painted artwork. She was pulling you toward your rock garden. I think she set up a dedicated hardline before she made her move on you. I have our tech guys looking for it now."

"It makes sense," Keiichi said. "She seemed real eager to get Belldandy there."

"And I think it will lead directly to their base," Gwydion said. "Or very close to it."

"And when you find it?" Belldandy asked.

"We'll attack through it," he told her. "Right now, time is only on our side because they don't have the angel tree, which means eventually they _will_ attack again. Maybe a year from now, after they've moved their base to some realm where we'll never find it. We either strike them now or risk everything later."

Belldandy closed her eyes in thought. She opened them a moment later. "Then I should come with you."

"Belldandy!" Keiichi cried.

But Gwydion cut off his protest. "No. The one thing we still don't understand is why they want a Norn. Until we know for sure, at least one of you stays here."

The goddess' eyes widened in surprise. "'At least one?'"

Before a very uncomfortable-looking Gwydion could explain, that explanation bounded into the room and hugged Belldandy.

"Oneesama!" Skuld cried, wrapping her arms around her sister.

"Skuld!" Feeling something different in her sister, Belldandy held her at arms' length and blinked at her armor. "You... You've chosen a role?" she asked quietly.

For the first time since making her choice, Skuld looked uncomfortable. "You're not mad, are you?"

Belldandy hugged her again. "Of course not," she said. "If this is the path you wish to follow, then you should follow it."

888

"Got it!" the tech said, holding a glowing rod at the center of the rock garden.

Gwydion pushed his way to the front. "Any idea where it leads?"

"Negative," the tech said. "Should we send a probe?"

"If they detect it then this whole thing is for nothing," Yazlyn argued.

"Agreed. We're going to have to accept some things on faith," the teacher told them. He took a breath. "How long until the vehicles are ready?"

"We can leave in the morning," Skuld replied proudly. "Mr. Stryker is fully armored and automatic! It'll be a snap!"

He didn't face her. "Skuld, I'm putting you on Captain Yazlyn's team. You'll report to her for the duration of this mission."

"H...Hai," she said.

"Mission brief in three hours," he announced to the gathered war gods. "Weapons prep and vehicle maintenance has seven hours! Let's get to work."

"CURAHEE!"

_"My sister has this strange affliction where_

_she believes she has to be the one to face_

_the ills of Creation herself. I used to think_

_this just made her cutely naive. Now, I know_

_it's just a natural byproduct of having _

_someone to love that damned much. It_

_doesn't make us any less idiots though."_

_From the diary of Lady Urd_

Standing on the back step, Keiichi turned to his fiancé, who was staring down at the ground as if refusing to look at him.

"What does that mean?" he asked her.

"Eh?"

"That word," he said again. "'Curahee?'"

She stared down at the wood of the railing. "It's their motto," she told him. "It's an ancient word. It means, 'together, we stand alone.'"

"You're worried about Skuld," he said.

"I have to go with them," she said quietly before finally raising her eyes to look at him. "You know that, right?"

It was his turn to look down at the ground. "I had a feeling," he said softly.

"I have a duty," she said. "To Skuld... to Heaven..." She looked at him again. "And to you."

He looked at her with a touch of surprise. "To me?"

"Hai," she whispered. "It's not just Heaven in danger. Earth is at risk as well. Heaven was my home, and I feel an obligation to protect it, but..." She turned and embraced him. "This," she said, squeezing him. "This is also my home, and I have a duty to protect it as well."

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly, as much to hide the tears in his eyes as to show his support.

"I'll come back," she promised.

"I know," he choked.

_"NEVER HEARD OF HIM."_

_AI of the Great Ship Gwydion_

_upon learning for whom he _

_was named._

"Skuld! Sit with us!"

The young goddess had been searching the crowd for Gwydion. Nearly thirty gods were packed into the temple waiting for the briefing to begin. Yazlyn called to her again and waved, and Skuld pushed through the crowd to them.

"Have a seat," Yazlyn offered. "You're going to be in our squad from now on, so you should get to know the rest of the guys. You feeling okay?"

"I'm a little nervous," Skuld said in a tone that said she was _very_ nervous.

The older goddess smiled. "Don't sweat it. You're a Gatekeeper now. But you still have a long way to go, so you just stick with me and learn as much as you can."

"Hai!" Skuld replied.

Yazlyn gave her a half-threatening look.

"Er... Yes, Ma'am!" Skuld tried again. She was going to have to get used to the new world she had entered.

Yazlyn saw the doors open and shouted so the whole room could hear. "RISE!"

The other avenging angels stood and faced forward as Gwydion's cane could be heard clacking up to the front of the room. Skuld watched him carefully. He seemed tired, but at the same time more comfortable than she had ever seen him.

"Sit," he ordered. He looked out at them. "This is it," he told them. "Before we begin, some rumor control. For those of you who have heard otherwise, Commander Lind was reported killed in action along with her entire platoon in the Roundtable." There was some murmuring from the crowd, but not much. Most everyone knew by now that their former commander was gone.

"It is our belief that it was the attack on her unit that sparked the attack on Heaven; in essence, the commander forced their hand and by doing so may have saved all of us," he continued. "The only question now is what we do with the opportunity she's given us. This is it. We stop them here, or we never stop them."

888

Sentaro put on the brakes of his bike and looked down the hill at the temple yard. "Woah," he said. "What's going on?" he asked the larger man standing nearby.

Tamiya shook his head. "I don't know."

"_Some have asked, 'why? Why are they doing this to us?'"_

"You think we should go ask?" Otaki asked them. Before they could respond, Skuld and Banpei came up from behind them, their arms overloaded with silver cases.

"Excuse us," she said quickly, pushing between them.

"_But as The Almighty as my witness, it makes no difference. We have never been challenged as we are right now. And we've never asked why we deserve to win."_

Otaki and Tamiya looked to one another, and Otaki nodded.

Skuld felt the weight in her arms suddenly lighten. "Huh?"

"We'll carry those," Tamiya rumbled, swinging the cylinders over his broad shoulders.

"_This isn't just our fight. It belongs to all the people of Creation, across every realm."_

Skuld smiled. "Arigato!"

As Skuld led them down the hill, they passed Keiichi and Megumi welding a steel plate onto one of the Mr. Strykers.

"_No one in those realms will ever know the sacrifices many of you are about to make. No statue will stand for you. No Great Ship will bear your name. No mortal woman will name their child for you."_

The junior looked up and caught his fiance's eye as she worked with a group of valkyrie medics.

"_Their survival will be your monument."_

888

He looked out at them and saw their determination in the eyes that stared back. "It's time," he finished. "Curahee!"

"CURAHEE!"

_"To my sister, Urd, I leave the most solemn of_

_responsibilities. I entrust the happiness of my_

_beloved Keiichi to you. You and he have always_

_shared a special relationship, and in the event_

_of my death, I can think of no other goddess_

_I would be willing to entrust his life and his_

_love to. Take care of him as I would."_

_From the last will and testament_

_of the goddess Belldandy_

"I should go to bed soon," Belldandy told him as he placed a tea cup in front of her. "I have to be up very early tomorrow."

"Just a little longer?" Keiichi begged, sipping at his own cup.

She tried to smile encouragingly. "I'll be back before you know it," she assured him. "It's not forever."

"I know," he whispered, reaching across the kitchen table to take her hand.

Blushing, she looked away and sipped at her own tea. "Please promise you'll look after Neesan for me," she asked, changing the subject. "She's still very upset."

"I will," he said. "I talked to her this afternoon. It's going to be okay."

She smiled at him. "I know. You and Neesan have always had a close relationship. If anything were to happen to me, I would expect her to step in for me."

Keiichi's eye went wide. "Uh... Urd... 'Step in'... for you?"

She gave him an amused sideways glance. "Hai. You did wish for a goddess to always remain by your side..."

"Yeah, but... I mean..."

She smiled. "I'm only..." She broke off as her head began to swim. Her fingers went to her temples. "I..." Her eyes found her tea, and she looked up at him. "Keiichi?"

By the time her forehead hit the table, Urd was already walking into the kitchen.

"You're sure she's not hurt?" Keiichi asked quietly, looking at his unconscious fiancé.

"The pill you put in her tea put her in emergency recharge mode," the older goddess explained. "She should stay that way for a day at least. Don't worry."

He didn't look up at her, continuing to look at Belldandy. "I don't feel great about doing this," he said.

"Well, you should," Urd told him, pulling some of the defensive charms off Belldandy's clothes and applying them to her own. "She's not supposed to go."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She paused. "Frigga had a vision in Heaven," the goddess told him. "She wouldn't tell me what it was about, but it was pretty obvious from the way she was acting. I'm supposed to go on this mission." She looked at him. "And I don't think I'm supposed to come back."

"Urd..."

She looked down at her sleeping sister, remembering the last time she had been in this situation. It seemed like she had been living on borrowed time since that incident with Corus. Maybe it was simply time to pay up.

"Do you know why gods and goddesses treat her with near-reverence, Keiichi?" she asked quietly.

"No."

She didn't look at him. "I once told you that Belldandy was three things: a representation of the present, a goddess of fertility and a guardian of the World Tree. It's the last one that's so important. 'Guardian' in this case means many things, but when you boil it down, it means that it's all her. The World Tree can't grow without a Norn, without her, and in the future, without Skuld. When people look at her, they don't just see a naive young woman. They see the sunrise, a mother giving birth, a man and a woman holding hands. They see life anew."

Urd finally looked at him. "She's not expendable. She has a role to play, and she's going to play it. As a goddess of the past, my part as guardian is over. Creation can stand to lose me. It won't bear to lose her."

Keiichi looked down at the table. "I told her the same thing once," he confessed.

She nodded. "Because you see it too." Leaning down, she kissed her sister's forehead. "Be happy," she whispered.

Keiichi watched as his sister-in-law stood up and walked out the door without another word.

888

"Sensei?"

Skuld found Gwydion standing beneath the Buddha inside the main temple. The commander was looking up at the gilded statue pensively, wondering if that was how humanity really saw gods.

Turning at the sound of her voice, he found his student nervously approaching.

"What is it, Skuld?" he asked.

"Well, it's just..." She retreated for a moment before trying again. "I read that there's a tradition. When a student and teacher part ways, the student gives the teacher a memory coin as payment for teaching them."

"We're still a long way from that," Gwydion told her with a smile.

"I made you one anyway," Skuld said. "You know... Just in case..." Reaching into her pocket, she produced a small gold coin.

His face fell just a bit. "I don't take death letters, Skuld."

"Sensei, there's just a lot I want to tell you and..."

Gwydion smiled at her. "Skuld, a god who believes he's going to die tomorrow will usually find a way to make it happen." He took the coin and placed it squarely back into her palm, closing her fingers around it and squeezing her hand. "Tomorrow is not the end," he told her quietly.

She nodded. "Hai."

"Go get some sleep," he told her. "Tomorrow will be a long day."

He watched her as she turned and slowly walked away and tried to remember how he felt the night before his first fire mission. No matter how routine, there was always that lingering possibility that you wouldn't come back. He was surprised to find that he felt the same way now, that time hadn't dulled the sense.

"Hey."

It surprised him that he hadn't felt her approach, but there she was, a bottle of sake and two ceramic cups in her hand.

"Urd," he greeted her quietly. "About before..."

As he stumbled through his apology, she poured a cup of sake and pushed it into his hand before pouring one for herself. As the words left his mouth, she was there, crushing her lips against his. As she broke away, he was still trying to apologize.

"It's not what I wanted," he tried explaining.

The goddess placed a finger on his lips. "The Favrashi never asked what we wanted," she told him quietly. The goddess poured him a cup and handed to him before pouring one for herself. She held up her cup in a toast. "To one more night. Cheers."

He looked down at his cup and offered a wan smile before downing his own drink. She refilled them, but didn't drink right away, preferring to savor the moment. Her questioning eyes found him sipping at the sake.

"What if they had?" she asked quietly. At his questioning look, she elaborated. "What would you do if this was all just suddenly over?"

He turned away as he thought, downing the rest of the sake in his cup. "I'd stop," he finally told her. "Just stop." At her questioning look, he continued. "Despite my best efforts, I've been fighting my entire life. It would be nice to just stop."

"After this there'll peace again," Urd told him. "You can stop then."

"Peace is an illusion," he told her. "Brief interludes between conflict. Look at this situation now. We finally get the demons under some semblance of control and then..." He held out his cup for a refill and grimaced. "... damn sentient angels," he muttered.

She refilled his cup. "But what would you _do_?" she pressed.

He gave her a hopeful look. "I would hope that... I would be welcome to return here," he said quietly. "And write poetry about the goddess with the moonlight-colored hair who's become my muse."

Urd poured herself a third and leaned against the wall, smiling and letting the sake's effects wash over her. "Flattery will get you everywhere." At his smile, she turned serious again. "And go back to teaching?"

She was surprised to see him shake his head. "No," he whispered. "I can't."

"But why?" Urd asked, blinking in confusion. "You're good at it."

"I've lost two of my best students to war," he whispered. "I don't think I could bear to lose another."

"That would be a waste," she admonished him.

"Well," he finally relented, taking a bracing sip from his drink. "There is _someone_ I'd be willing to teach."

"Oh? Who?"

He gave her a serious look. "My firstborn."

She swallowed nervously at the statement and all the baggage that came with it, not sure how she felt about the idea. Shaking her head, she put her sake cup on the banister. "Gwydion, I..."

"I shouldn't have said that," he confessed.

"I'm just... I'm not even mature enough to take care of _myself_!" she said with a laugh. Her tone turned wistful. "Let alone a..." She shook herself from the brief fantasy. "She'd be one quarter demon..."

"And half you," he told her with a smile.

"I didn't come here to talk," she told him, eager to get off the uncomfortable topic. "There's time enough to talk about that kind of thing _if_ we survive tomorrow, right?" She punctuated this by sauntering toward him, reaching out and letting her fingertips trail over his good shoulder.

Taking his head in her hands, she leaned over and kissed him softly. "But," she whispered. "If it _were_ to happen, she'd also be half you."

888

The windswept plateau stretched for miles, flat, rocky and barren save for the small dot of light that suddenly formed at an almost random spot. With a flash of light, this spot expanded and seven winged avenging angels emerged and began to climb to a higher altitude.

Pahana checked his small infopad, confirming his location and touching the comm gem at his neck. "We're in the Roundtable. Locator indicates we are three miles from Commander Lind's last known location."

"Aerial contacts!" he heard one of his valkyries call out. "Approaching fast! Captain, they outnumber us three to one!"

"Good," Pahana growled. "Then it's a fair fight." Raising his voice, he opened the comm link to the rest of his gods. "Cover the insertion team! Don't let the mongrel filth touch them!"

As the Avenging Angels turned to engage, darts of light shot toward them from the Favrashi defenders. Far below the exchange, the small dot of light from the hardline flashed again and three armored vehicles sped through it at their top speed.

Inside the second vehicle, Urd looked through the window and braced herself as one of the Favrashi flew down toward them only to be blasted from behind by one of Pahana's gods. The defender spun out of control and struck the ground near them.

"Dismount in two minutes," she heard Gwydion through her gem. He hadn't argued when she told him she was coming instead of Belldandy, probably knowing how futile it would be to fight and what a hypocrite he would sound like after allowing Skuld to come along.

_Why did I come?_ she asked herself. _For Belldandy's sake? Skuld's? Or my own?_

888

In the third vehicle, Yazlyn hit a button in the aft compartment and watched the rear hatch open, revealing the same violet sky she remembered from when her life ended. It had been years since the love of her life had died while she was too injured to help her.

This time it would be different.

Reaching out to the weapon rack, her eyes didn't leave the desolate landscape as she pulled a lance from its hooks and heard it hum to life.

"Dismount in thirty seconds."

"You heard him!" Yazlyn barked. "As soon as this thing stops, we're right back to it."

888

The vehicles stopped near the cliffs where Lind had first spotted the cave entrance and the valkyries piled out, establishing a fast and dirty perimeter. In the distant sky, they could still see flashes from Pahana's Avenging Angels battling the Favrashi pickets.

While Yazlyn directed her troops, something caught Gwydion's eye, drawing him toward it. A glint of light reflected off something half embedded in the sand. Struggling to kneel next to it, he reached down and plucked it from the ground.

One of the Gatekeepers had spotted something similar not far away. "Remains!" he called out.

"Is it Lind?" Yazlyn asked.

Gwydion stared at the commander's insignia that once rode his student's collar. "It's her," he remarked quietly.

"How did they catch them on the ground?" an avenging angel asked incredulously.

"Ask questions later," Yazlyn told him. "We've got work to do." She stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Old Man?"

He rose to his feet. "She's right. Let's get to it."

888

The cave entrance was no larger than a pair of double doors, but the corners and edges were so smooth Yazlyn knew it couldn't be a natural occurrence. "Stack up," she whispered to her team. The three other gods in her fire team lined up along the wall. As team leader, she took the third spot and followed as the point man led them to the edge.

She pointed her lance downward and touched her comm gem. "Ready," she whispered.

"Clear it," Gwydion's voice whispered back.

Yazlyn waited as the point man leaned against the next god, then the next god against her. When she was ready, she leaned back against the last team member. Once he was ready, he pushed against her and her down the line. The entire team rushed into the cave.

The anteroom was lit just well enough for them to see the room was empty. No sentry waited for them. As soon as she was satisfied, she hit her comm. "Clear. Proceeding."

The team restacked and proceeded further into the cave. Darkness pushed against them as they walked silently, weapons up and ready. When they could barely see, Yazlyn called a halt.

"Snakeyes," she ordered. The team members reached into their cloaks and found a small vial. Dabbing some of the amber liquid onto their fingers, they touched it to their eyes and blinked several times as the room lit up in shades of yellow and green. Satisfied, Yazlyn ordered the team to move on.

Three more chambers were cleared before they came upon their first pair of sentries. The tunnel diverged in two directions, and an armed god stood at each entrance, apparently oblivious to their presence mere feet from them. She gave a few hand signals to two of her troops, and they lowered their weapons, drawing small daggers instead.

The sentries were sublimating before they knew to scream.

888

"Some kind of storage area down there," Yazlyn explained, gesturing down the hallway. "We're getting some weird readings from it."

"And down this other hallway?" Gwydion asked as they walked, Skuld right on his heels.

"You're not going to believe it," Yazlyn told him. She led them further down the corridor until it ended in a cavernous room lined with computer terminals. A large window looked out over an even larger chamber that held a bronze-colored spire that reached from floor to ceiling.

"Kami sama," Skuld whispered. "It's a class three server!"

"A what?" Yazlyn asked.

"It's a back-up computer for when they have to take Yggdrasil down for maintenance," Urd explained, as her sister rolled up her sleeves and approached the main interface terminal. "A series of twelve of them can handle some of Yggdrasil's low-priority functions for a short time, but even one of them is still a very advanced supercomputer."

"Clever sons of bitches," Yazlyn cursed. "They put it together piece by piece."

"Can you access it, Skuld?" Gwydion asked.

Skuld typed in a few commands and watched the screen light up.

//PLEASE STATE IDENTIFICATION AND PASSWORD//

The young goddess tried a basic surface query, essentially asking the computer to identify itself.

//CLASS THREE SERVER, UNAFFLILIATED. IDENTIFICATION NUMBER BU773-R5. PLEASE STATE IDENTIFICATION AND PASSWORD//

"This is going to take awhile," Skuld told them.

"We don't have awhile," Yazlyn argued.

Skuld bit her lip, her fingers running over the keyboard. "Okay, there's something I can try, but..." She paused. "Did you guys check everywhere?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah, why?" Yazlyn asked.

The goddess pointed at the screen. "I can't get a whole lot of information from this thing, but there's a lot of energy being diverted to the lower levels and this chamber here." She tapped the screen.

"That looks like the storage area," Yazlyn told them. She keyed her com. "Phobos, Cassandra, rally up at the store room." She turned to Gwydion. "I'm going to go check it out."

"I'll come with you," Urd offered.

Yazlyn looked at her, unsure of the offer, but not hostile to it either. "Okay."

Gwydion nodded. "Fine, but no fighting, you two. Understand?"

Urd rolled her eyes while Yazlyn snorted. "Okay, Dad!"

The two goddess double backed while Gwydion turned back to Skuld. Instead of finding the girl typing, she was holding her hands over the terminal, her eyes shut tight.

"Skuld?"

She didn't answer right away. The older god could sense the link she was establishing with the computer, could feel the raw power spark between the two.

"Skuld!"

Her concentration broken, her eyes fluttered open and she turned to him.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Well, Sensei, it just seemed that an 'it' has no choice in what it does, but a 'he' could..."

HELLO THERE!

The verbal greeting shocked them.

"Um... Hi," Skuld called back.

"Skuld," Gwydion whispered. "Did you... Did you just bring this computer to life?"

The girl goddess didn't answer right away. "Would that be bad?" she asked sheepishly.

The computer didn't seem the least put off by their conversation.

I'M THE BEE YOU SEVEN SEVEN THREE DASH ARE FIVE!

Skuld had to shake her head. Unlike Eddas' voice, which had been computer modulated, this computer's voice sounded almost child-like, like a small schoolboy and just as innocent. It's next statement, however, made her rethink that in a heartbeat.

SO, YOU HERE TO DESTROY ALL OF CREATION? WHIPPEE!

888

"What have you got?" Yazlyn demanded as she and Urd entered the furthest most chamber in the storage area. The other two war gods stood near a small part of the wall.

"Check this out," the female of the two said as she brushed aside a lock of golden hair. She reached out and pressed against the wall, watching Yazlyn and Urd start as her hand passed right through it. "I think it's a dedicated hardline someone left open."

Yazlyn bit her lip and nodded before touching her comm crystal. "Gwydion, we found a hard line. We're going to check it out."

"Understood. Use caution."

"Roger. How are things up there?"

He paused before answering. "Progressing."

888

'CAUSE IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW, YOU TAKE AWAY THE BEST PART OF ME! OOOH OOH OOH WEEE, PLEASE DON'T GO!

Skuld and her teacher compared notes while the computer sang to itself. "Sensei, I think this is our best chance to stop whatever it is they're going to do," Skuld told him. "If it's intelligent, it can be reasoned with, right?"

Gwydion looked up at the machine and gave it some thought. "All right," he relented. "But don't tell it anything it doesn't already know."

"Yes, Sensei!"

She turned and stepped back to the terminal as Gwydion watched his student work. "So... what do you mean by 'destroy Creation?'"

WELL, GOLLY GEE, I MEAN JUST THAT.

The screen lit up with a schematic of the plateau. Different layers of rock each took on a different color, with the largest section being a deep red. A legend appeared at the bottom right part of the screen, identifying what each color meant.

Skuld swallowed and started to shake. "Sensei," she whispered fearfully. "Sensei!"

"What is it?" he asked, and she pointed at the legend.

"This... This entire mountain is... It's..."

Gwydion saw the chart himself and quickly tapped his comm. "This is the commander," he identified. "From this moment on, under no circumstances whatsoever is _anyone_ to use energy projectile weapons while inside the mountain. All units reply with an affirmative."

The teacher listened as each war god replied, affirming the order. His eyes, however, never left the legend, identifying the red material that made up ninety percent of the mountain's interior.

"I'm not wrong, am I?" Skuld asked fearfully.

"No, Skuld," he said quietly. "That's tri-plutonium all right." He rose, his back straightening painfully. "This whole mountain is one big bomb."

888

Urd knew she could emerge anywhere, but was honestly surprised that she didn't reappear in another cave. Instead, they stood at the edge of a thick forest with tall pines reaching up to the sky. What was odd, however, was the size of the realm they emerged in.

Directly behind them, just beyond the hard line, was a wall of purple mist that extended around the forest. Urd guessed the forest itself was probably only four miles square. The mist, she knew, was the way light reflected off the quantum particles that reacted to nothingness. The entire universe of this realm was this tiny patch of land. Looking up at the sky, she saw blue sky and a distant sun, but it was confined to the walls of purple.

"Wow," the male war god escorting them pronounced. "A pocket universe?"

"Little bigger than a pocket," Cassandra quipped.

"Paper bag universe?" Phobos joked.

"Cut the shit," Yazlyn barked. "Stay sharp." She turned to Urd. "You ever see anything like this?"

"No," Urd said with a shake of her head. "It's not even supposed to be possible."

"Yeah, that's going around," Yazlyn muttered.

"Woah! Contact right!" Phobos announced, rasing his staff.

Urd's eye caught a flash of movement in the brush nearby.

"Don't shoot!" she heard whoever it was cry out. "I'm not one of them!"

"Hold up," Yazlyn ordered, raising her own rapier. "Come out slow!" she ordered.

Even as the goddess in the bushes stood up, Urd was hit with a flash of familiarity.

"Hands in the air!" Yazlyn ordered. "Slow!"

The goddess stepped forward, her hands toward the sky, but her eyes were locked squarely on Urd. "I knew you'd come," she said. "He said if anything went wrong to wait for you here."

The Norn's eyes traveled up and down the woman. Now it was bothering her. Her appearance and voice were both familiar. Blonde hair was held up in a tight bun and a long white robe hung from her shoulders.

"You two know each other?" Cassandra asked.

"What's your name?" Urd asked.

"Clio," the woman answered.

"No, I mean what's your _name_?" Urd said again with meaning.

The other goddess smiled. "Summer Rain." Her eyes went wide. "You don't remember, of course. I was in the carriage with you and Indulgent Charity."

It clicked. It was the goddess who had sat across from her on the ride to her first meeting with the Sixth Column. No wonder she was familiar. "You're Sixth Column," she identified.

Summer Rain nodded. "Indulgent Charity told me that if anything went wrong that you would eventually come here. To wait for you and help you any way I can."

Urd nodded.

"Is... Is he..."

The Norn nodded. "I'm sorry."

The Favrashi closed her eyes in sorrow. "He was a good angel." Her gaze locked onto them again. "There's a lot to show you. Come with me."

Yazlyn nodded and turned to the other war gods. "You two stay here and keep the door open. We'll be back soon."

At their nods, Urd, Summer Rain and Yazlyn started into the forest.

888

THE TRI-PLUTONIUM IS CON-NECTED TO THE... HARD LINES! THE HARD LINES' CONNECTED TO THE... DETONATOR! THE DETONATOR'S CONNECTED TO THE... INSTRUMENT PANEL...

Skuld rubbed her temples as the computer sang. "So, let me see if I got all this right," she said. "This whole mountain bomb is designed to disrupt the fabric of realmic space here and cause the entire universe to collapse?"

YUP!

"But that would just destroy this one realm," Skuld worked through it. "But if you opened every hardline in the Roundtable just before the universe collapsed, the blast wave would travel through every realm and cause a chain reaction that would destroy every connected realm."

BOY, YOU CAUGHT ONTO THIS WHOLE THING PRETTY QUICK! SHOULD I START THE COUNTDOWN NOW?

"Uh... Not yet..." Skuld said. She tried to think of a way out of this. Where to start? "Um... What's your name?"

WELL, I TOLD YOU, I'M THE BEE YOU SEVE...

"Yeah, that's a serial number. I mean what's your name?" Skuld thought for a moment. Thinking of her time with Eddas had reminded the goddess of his penchant for l33t speak. She looked at the serial number again and nodded.

"Your name is Butters!"

"Butters?" Gwydion asked.

BUTTERS?

"Butters!" Skuld affirmed with a happy nod.

WELL, OKAY, IF YOU THINK IT FITS...

888

"What is all this?" Urd asked Summer Rain as they marched through the forest. Taking up the rear, Yazlyn's eyes darted to and fro, searching for a trap she could almost sense. Urd, meanwhile, kept her eyes firmly on the back of Summer Rain's head, still bothered by a sense of deja vu she couldn't explain. Although she remembered the Favrashi, there was something still bothering her.

"This is Sanctuary," Summer Rain explained. "A world anew. The plan was to raid Heaven, steal the Angel Tree and bring it here where we would use it to perpetuate our race." The angel snorted. "But as you know, things didn't go according to the plan."

The angel led them down a steep hillside. Below, Urd could see what appeared to be a cabin or lodge, the first building they've seen.

"That's our Alamo," Summer Rain explained. "It can house a hundred easily. Just in case."

"Your attack... I'm sorry... _Their_ attack on Heaven," Yazlyn began. "After the ass-kickings we'd been getting from the Favrashi, I expected better. What happened?"

Summer Rain spared the valkyrie a backwards glance. "Your reconnaissance team arrived at the front gate," she said plainly. "The majority of the team was silenced, but two pickets escaped. We knew it was only a matter of time before you retaliated. We had to strike quickly."

Urd was a bit surprised when the angel led them past the lodge and not into it. "Where are we going?"

"There's still one question that you have," Summer Rain told her without looking at her. "One that Indulgent Charity was reluctant to answer. He knew as we all did that if you knew, Heaven's retaliation would be swift, final and overwhelming."

They were barely a quarter mile from the lodge when the three goddesses emerged in a small clearing several meters wide, bare except for a single plant growing in the center. Only three feet tall, it was barely a sapling, but blue sparks emerged from its tiny trunk and floated upward.

"What is it?" Yazlyn asked.

Urd didn't answer. She fell to her knees in front of it in total awe.

"Urd?"

The Norn cupped her hands around the top of the plant, letting her spirit touch it, confirming what she sensed in her heart. "How?" she whispered, the shock evident in her voice.

"We had to wait centuries for the opportunity," Summer Rain explained. "We feared it would take an attack in order to get it, but fortunately a series of coincidences gave us our chance."

"One of you make sense!" Yazlyn ordered bitterly.

Urd didn't take her eyes off the plant, watching transfixed as it sent several more sparks up into the sky. She absentmindedly touched it with her fingertips and watched as a shower of sparks flew into the air as a result.

"It wasn't even a Favrashi," Summer Rain told them. "It was the anarchist, Celestin, who gave us the opportunity. His attack caused it to appear, and when it did, one of our angels obtained a cutting from its branches while you and your sisters fought him."

Urd shook her head in awe.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Yazlyn demanded.

"It's a World Tree," Urd breathed. "That's how they created this realm." She stood up and faced Summer Rain. "That's why they've been trying so hard to capture Belldandy and Skuld."

The angel nodded. "Yes. We were able to stabilize the cutting, prompt it to take root... But without a Norn... we can't make it grow."

"That's why this realm is so small?" Yazlyn asked. "Because that little plant is just a baby?"

Urd nodded. "It's not just any realm. With a World Tree, you can create a whole new system of worlds. It's Creation..."

"It's Re-Creation," Summer Rain told her. "Once the realms of Creation were swept from existence, the Favrashi would create a new existence, a universe without sin. Come, there's more to show you."

The angel turned and led them down another path. Had any of them looked back, they might have caught sight of the sapling growing just an inch higher...

888

"I don't know, what do you think?" Phobos asked.

Standing near the hardline, Cassandra shrugged. "Secret base, I guess."

"Two secret bases?"

The valkyrie shrugged.

Phobos stepped toward the woods.

"Where are you going?" Cassandra asked him.

"It's going to get dark eventually," he told her. "I'm going to get some wood for a fire."

"Don't go far," she warned him.

He gave her a sly smile. "I'll be right back."

The valkyrie rolled her eyes as the other god disappeared into the woods. Her eyes scanned the tree line as she waited.

Ten minutes went by.

Then five more.

"Phobos?" she called, hitting her comm necklace. "Phobos, sound off."

She was about to call Yazlyn when she felt something warm slide into her back. Her eyes closed as she began to sublimate.

888

Lying on her back under Butters' main console, Skuld could barely make out the conversation Gwydion was having with Yazlyn over the comm net. Before she got too into the weeds about what she wanted the computer to do, she had to make sure there wasn't a transmitter in him capable of warning the Favrashi. The work was slow since she was dividing her attention between the task at hand and her teacher's words.

"A Sixth Columnist?" Gwydion asked through the gem at his throat.

"Affirmative," Skuld heard Yazlyn's voice reply. "We're here getting the grand tour. I got Cassandra and Phobos watching our exit."

Gwydion paused. "This... angel... seem reliable?"

"Urd seems to trust her."

_"Therefore, it is with the greatest urging that_

_I recommend you investigate the activities_

_of the goddess Urd. It strains suspension of_

_disbelief to think her actions and the reluctance_

_of the enemy to take action against her are_

_entirely coincidence."_

_Letter from Color Sgt. Yazlyn,_

_507__th__ Winged Infantry Regiment,_

_1__st__ Combat Division, to Director_

_Shasiel of the Grigori_

Yazlyn pushed another branch out of her way as she followed Summer Rain and Urd through the forest.

"Use extreme caution," Gwydion told her. "But proceed. Stay in contact."

"Roger," she said. "Roundhammer out."

Her fingers paused over the gem, intent on calling for an update from Cassandra and Phobos, but her eyes fell on Urd, and something stopped her. For all intents and purposes, they were alone, and there was something she still had to do.

She increased her pace and fell into step beside Urd. "So," she said casually. "Where's this thing with you and the Old Man going?" she asked.

Urd arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I didn't know we were having conversations," she said.

Yazlyn sighed. "Look," she began. "Gwydion told me about the function codes and what you did that kept that attack from being a whole lot worse. I guess..."

"What?" Urd asked. "So you're saying I'm trustworthy now?" Her voice was irritation wrapped in disbelief, but Yazlyn was determined to do the right thing here.

"I'm _admitting_... that I was _wrong,_" the valkyrie told her. She paused and searched for the right words. Unlike her friend, she was no poet who could bend words to her will. "He's all I've got left," she said quietly. "And I don't want to see him hurt. Ever since that day..." She broke off.

Urd took a slow breath. "He... He told me that he wasn't the only one to lose someone he cared about in the Roundtable," she said quietly.

Yazlyn let out a short chuckle. "You don't have to be sly, Urd," she quietly. "Gaeriel and I were lovers. The three of us were very close, and losing her like that _and_ seeing Gwydion... change... It was almost too much to take." She paused again. "And when I saw you taking an interest... I didn't want him to hurt any more than he already was."

Urd walked in silence for several moments before turning back to her. "He blames himself, you know."

"We all blame ourselves," she said quietly. "Gwydion turned inward, and I..." She paused. "Have you ever lost someone? Wait, that's not the right word..." Urd waited for her to find a way to say it. "Have you ever had someone you loved deeply ripped from your arms and murdered?" she finally finished.

Urd didn't answer.

"Because that's what it was," Yazlyn continued harshly. "They say to be a valkyrie you have to have some anger in you, that it's the only way to cope with a lifetime of combat. Well, I wasn't just angry. I _hated_, Urd. I hated them so much it hurt, like a ball of pain in my heart. It was the exact opposite of everything I had learned to feel when Gaeriel was with me. It was like a betrayal of her."

She looked Urd in the eye and grit her teeth. "It wasn't the demon in you I hated, Urd," she said. "I hate what I _became_ because of them."

"Over here!"

They both looked up and found Summer Rain waving at them from a group of large boulders nearby. A cave entrance just large enough for one to walk upright met them.

The moment between the two goddesses was broken. It was time to get back to work.

888

"Butters?" Skuld asked tentatively, crawling out from under the terminal. "Can I ask you something?"

WELL, SURE! I MEAN, WE'RE FRIENDS, AND FRIENDS CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING!

"Good," Skuld said softly. "You know your primary function? The one that destroys all life in Creation?"

OH, YEAH... IS IT TIME ALREADY? FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO!...

"NO!" Skuld cried suddenly. "I just want to talk about it!"

OH, OKAY, THEN...

"Just tell me more about it," Skuld prompted.

WELL, IT'S SIMPLE, REALLY... I EXPLODE AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT...

"What about the hardlines?"

OH, THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT TERMINAL! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

Skuld turned and saw another computer interface nearby, this one rigged with a long range broadband transmitter. Turning back to Butters, she scrunched her face in thought. "So... your basic purpose is to just explode?"

PRETTY MUCH!

"So... You wouldn't really care one way or another if the hardlines were closed, right?"

NO... BLOWING UP IS PRETTY MUCH BLOWING UP...

"Could you maybe... not blow up as much?" Skuld asked, squishing her thumb and forefinger closer together.

I DON'T THINK IT WORKS THAT WAY...

"Skuld? Any progress?" Gwydion asked.

The young goddess turned to the other terminal and booted it up. "Yeah, I'm onto something here," she said. "I don't think I can stop Butters from exploding, but I _can_ order all the hardlines in the Roundtable to close."

"Confining the blast to this realm," he finished.

"Yeah! I mean, we'd lose the Roundtable, but it's not like anyone lives here..."

"Except the Favrashi," Gwydion said with a half-smile. An errant thought forced him to ask, "Can you select specific hardlines to open?"

"Well, I think so," Skuld told him. "Why?"

He looked down at her innocent eyes and shook his head. "Nothing," he told her. He had half a mind to have her open the hardlines to the demon realm and wipe them out for good.

But if genocide was wrong when the Favrashi did it, how would it be right if he did?

"Get to work," he ordered. "Let me know when you're ready."

"Yes, Sensei."

His communications crystal blinked. "Go ahead," he ordered.

"Commander, this is Pahana," the Avenging Angel's rough voice came though clearly. "We're detecting a lot of contacts heading this way from the rough location of Heaven's hardline. Did you order reinforcements?"

He bit his lip. Gwydion had been afraid of this. "They must be a force that was anticipating a direct attack from Heaven," he explained. "The station here is practically deserted. What's their ETA?"

"They'll be here in twenty minutes," Pahana told him. "Your lingo five after that."

"Captain, I need you to hold them for as long as you can, then when you get the signal I need you and your entire unit to get out of the Roundtable as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

He turned to Skuld. "Skuld, you have a half hour to blow this place up!" He activated the crystal again. "Yazlyn!"

888

The stone walkway led to a large open chamber. Though deep underground, the cavern was well lit. Roman columns lined the white marble walls, and a stone table or altar sat in the center of the room on a raised dais below them.

"This is the Bonding Chamber," Summer Rain explained. "This is where a Favrashi takes a host."

She began leading them downstairs when Yazlyn's comm chirped. "Just a sec," she said, stopping.

"Yazlyn!"

"Gwydion?" she asked. She could barely make out the commander's voice. "I can barely hear you."

"Yazlyn, re... back... Imm... eed to exfil..."

"Say again," she requested.

She was concentrating so much on trying to make out the message that she almost missed the movement from behind the columns.

"URD!" she cried, shoving the other goddess down the steps as another god stepped forward and fired an energy bolt that ripped right through the center of the valkyrie's chest! She fell to the ground and rolled down the stone steps leading to the center of the chamber.

"YAZLYN!" Urd cried, raising her arms for an attack. Before she could get a bead on their attacker, however, she felt something clamp over her ears and the most dreaded sound in the world filled her head.

Enka.

She clawed at the headphones, turning at the same time and saw Summer Rain smiling triumphantly at her. Sleep started to claim her as she fought, but the earphones must have been enchanted to stay on the wearer and wouldn't budge.

As her eyelids started their inexorable slide downward, Summer Rain regarded her humorlessly. "Well, it's not the way I wanted it, but we have our Norn."

It was the last thing Urd heard before she hit the stone floor.

_"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done;_

_It is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."_

_Charles Dickens_

_"A Tale of Two Cities"_

Yazlyn felt the pain in her chest and struggled to move. She could see her attacker join Summer Rain and another god as they lifted Urd up onto the table.

Pushing upward, she tapped her comm crystal. "Gwydion," she breathed out before hitting the floor again. Through blurry eyes she could see her hand...

And watched the fingers as they slowly started to sublimate.

888

"Yazlyn!? Yazlyn!"

But there was no further reply.

Skuld stared at him. She had heard the valkyrie's cry, the weapons fire. "Sensei?"

Gwydion didn't turn to her.

"They have them, don't they?"

He tapped the crystal again. "Cassandra! Phobos! SITREP!"

Nothing.

"Sensei?"

He took a breath. "How long?" he asked her.

"I think it's ready," she said quietly. "I left the hardline we came through open. We can shut it from the other side."

Her teacher turned to her. "Start the countdown," he ordered. "Then gather our remaining gods and goddesses, leave one Stryker, and get back to Earth."

"Sensei!"

He started for the doorway that led to the storage chamber. "Hold the door open for us as long as you can, then shut it... whether we're there or not..."

Skuld ran up to him. "No way!" she cried. "I'm coming with you!"

"You have your orders!" he growled over his shoulder as he continued on.

"I'm not letting you go by yourse..."

He whirled around and slapped her so hard she fell on her butt in shock. Looking up at him in silent shock, she touched her cheek where she slapped him.

The face looking down at her was stern and would broker no argument. "You are a Valkyrie in Heaven's service!" he hissed. "You will follow the orders of your commander! Do you understand?"

Frightened at this change in him, she nodded.

"SAY THE WORDS, SKULD!"

"Hai, Sensei," she whispered. "I understand."

He pointed a finger at her. "Don't go picking up any bad habits from your predecessors," he warned her. "Now get out of here and you hold that door open as long as you can!"

She nodded again and watched him start down the corridor again as she started to cry.

888

Yazlyn placed her palms on the floor in front of her and pushed. She harnessed her anger, let it strengthen her and managed to bring herself to one knee.

She was dying, and she knew it. Even now her body was breaking down into the essence of the Almighty. Her vision was fading in and out, and just on the very edge of her perception, she could hear the voices of the dead...

And one in particular.

_It's okay, _the voice, that voice she fell in love with, told her. _You can rest. Your part is over. Lay down your burdens and come to me. You can stop now._

Yazlyn took a pained breath. "Could you?" she whispered back.

The whisper brought their attention back to her. Summer Rain's lips curled up in a half sneer. "Eyes of the World, put that thing out of its misery."

One of the Favrashi stepped toward her, coming close enough for the valkyrie to feel his breath and apparently thinking her too weak to do much of anything.

His mistake.

Summoning what strength she had, she quickly pulled her rapier from its sheathe and slashed outward, slicing the god in two! He sublimated like a puff of smoke, and she fell forward, too weak to hold her weapon any longer.

The other Favrashi made as if to attack her, but Summer Rain held his shoulder. "Let her die," she told him. "She's already more smoke than goddess."

It was true. Yazlyn could barely see her own hand now, but she reached forward and tried to drag herself toward them, growling like a dying animal.

_Stop,_ she heard Gaeriel's voice in her mind. _It's okay, I promise. Everything will happen as it should, and cannot happen any other way. _

"I'm not going to fail him again," she whispered weakly, managing to drag herself another inch.

_You haven't. He's on his way here now, and when he arrives, he'll fulfill his own destiny._

Yazlyn stopped moving, too weak to move any longer, too weak to even cry.

_My love, you've fought so hard. It's time to find your peace._

She managed to roll onto her back. Her vision was cloudy, and she realized that it wasn't her eyes, but the sight of her own body sublimating, the essence rising to the ceiling.

"I missed you so much," she whispered quietly.

_I know. I missed you as well. _

Then, Yazlyn closed her eyes...

And found peace.

888

Urd's eyes popped open the moment the headphones were pulled off her head. Seeing Summer Rain staring down at her, she lunged upward but was stopped by the restraints that bound her arms and legs to the altar. Looking up, she found her wrists wrapped in the same type of stone snakes that Corus had used on her and knew there was little point in struggling.

She did so anyway.

The Favrashi regarded her curiously. "When you came upon me in the forest, I wondered which part of me you would recognize first," she said. "My face or my voice." She smiled "Lucky me."

Urd groaned in her head and kicked herself mentally. She knew she recognized the angel's voice, but didn't put it together. She hadn't spoken during the trip to meet Indulgent Charity. No, she hadn't heard her voice until she had checked Gwydion's answering machine just before her arrest.

"You were a spy," she spat.

"I always knew Indulgent Charity was a weak link," Summer Rain replied. "Always the first to suggest a compromise rather than a course of action that would reclaim what is ours. Of course, I had no idea he would give you the function codes. I assumed it was a list of agents working within Central Dogma."

"Lucky us," Urd hissed at her.

The angel grimaced. "Quite." She motioned to the other angel and reached out to take a small wooden box from him. Urd tossed her head from side to side, searching for Yazlyn and swallowed when she found the valkyrie's sword and cape lying on the floor not far away.

"You didn't have to kill her," Urd growled at them.

"She killed quite a few of us," Summer Rain told her. "Including my sister, Han Ba. What she received was justice." The Favrashi opened the box. "And while I would prefer to extend to you that same justice, time has run out and instead I must extend to you a great honor." She removed a small object from the box, but Urd couldn't see what it was. "It is our wish to create a world without sin, without pain and without... impurity."

The object came into view and Urd recoiled as far as her bounds would let her. "No," she hissed, shaking her head as Summer Rain approached her with the angel egg in her fingers.

"You should be honored that a sinner, a half-breed, such as yourself would be allowed to join with one of our own," the angel told her as Urd felt the other Favrashi grasp her head, his fingers pulling her jaws apart.

"You will be the mother of our new world," Summer Rain told her as she dropped the egg into Urd's mouth. The other Favrashi clamped the goddess' mouth shut and hit her in the throat. Unconsciously, Urd swallowed.

"Now relent and meet your destiny."

_"None of your damn business!"_

_Skuld upon being asked_

_about her role in the Last_

_Battle of the Roundtable_

Stepping out into the dim light of the Roundtable's sun, Skuld watched as the other war gods loaded their equipment into two of the Mr. Strykers in preparation to leave. She had rigged the timer so that all she needed to do was press a button, but no matter what her teacher said, she wasn't going to start the countdown until she knew she had given him every chance in the world to escape. When the Strykers were ready to go, _then_ she'd start the countdown.

"Lieutenant," one of the Gatekeepers called out. He pointed at the sky. "One of Pahana's?"

They all looked up and saw a pair of white wings floating lazily in the sky high above them.

Skuld studied it as the lieutenant, Valaris, hit his comm jewel. "Warbird, Warbird, this is Lighthouse One-Seven. Come in."

The god rolled in and started to dive. To Skuld's right, one of the Gatekeepers screamed in fear.

"IT'S LOKI!"

Energy bolts shot from the god, exploding all around them. Skuld was knocked off her feet and tossed several yards away, landing in a patch of soft sand nearby. She could feel the wind kicked up by the flying god's passage as she painfully opened her eyes. Her entire body throbbed in pain. She heard the sound of Gatekeepers firing up at the Favrashi ace and out of the corner of her eye could see it dive behind some rocks.

Another sound caught her attention and she looked up. Out in the open, twenty feet away, one of the Gatekeepers was rolling around on the ground, screaming in pain. Skuld could see his left wing was charred and blackened.

Gathering her strength, she pushed up off the ground and stumbled over to him. Although she didn't know the first thing about first aid, she knew it would be better to get him out of the open and behind something thick. She grabbed him under the shoulder pads of his armor and strained as she pulled him across the ground.

She caught something in her peripheral vision and her eyes shot open at the sight of Loki turning to head right toward her.

_Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!_

She looked behind her, but the Strykers and rocks were still too far away. She could leave the wounded god and run, but...

Loki seemed to home in on her and increased his speed. Skuld swallowed back terror and stood up, placing herself between the Favrashi and the wounded war god.

_Come on, Skuld! Think! Lakes! Sunlight! Spotlights! Come on!_

Closing her eyes, she thought about the lake like Gwydion taught her to, watching the sunlight expand over it. Just to hurry things along, she tossed a couple more suns in the mix and some spotlights. The glare of light expanded quickly over the body of water in her mind, and she could feel the crackle of her shield start to form in front of her.

She jumped in fright when she heard the report of Loki's energy bolts, felt the impacts on the ground all around her, but she kept her eyes closed and concentrated on keeping that shield in place. A blast of wind struck her as Loki zipped past her no more than four feet above her head.

Her chest heaving, she opened her eyes and looked down. She and the wounded god were in a six foot circle of tranquil sand. Just outside that circle were pockmarks and scorched earth from where Loki's energy bolts had struck the ground or bounced off her shield.

She didn't waste time congratulating herself, instead kneeling down and grabbing the god again. By this time, two other Gatekeepers had found her and helped pull the wounded man to safety behind one of the Strykers.

Valaris was there as well, shouting into his comm crystal.

"Repeat! Pinned down by aerial contact! Need immediate air support!"

Skuld recognized Pahana's voice reply. "Roger, One-Seven. Be advised fast movers en route to your lingo. ETA three minutes. Recommend immediate exfil. Over."

Valaris waved to the other Gatekeepers. "All right, you heard him! Get in the Strykers! We're falling back! Move!"

Skuld looked back to the cave entrance as the others loaded the wounded god into the back of one of the vehicles. They ducked as Loki made another pass over them.

"Don't wait for me!" she yelled and ran toward the cave entrance.

"Skuld! Get back here!"

The skin on her arms burned as too many of Loki's energy bolts came very close to hitting her, but she continued running even as she entered the safety of the cave. Sprinting to the control room, knocking the occasional chair or box out of her way, she finally made it.

HI, SKULD!

"Hi, Butters!" she said quickly, smacking the countdown switch.

WOAH! NEATO!

"Bye, Butters!" she cried, running out of the control room again.

BYE, SKULD! BA-OOMBA BA-OOMBA BUBBLEGUM! BA-OOMBA BA-OOMBA BUBBLEGUM! MY MOTHER GAVE ME...

Skuld didn't pay attention to the countdown, instead running as fast as she could for the daylight at the end of the tunnel. She gave a silent prayer of thanks when she saw the Strykers still there. Running out of the cave, she nearly lost her head as Loki fired on her from the sky. Tripping, her body slammed into the Stryker next to Valaris.

"That was stupid!" he screamed before turning back to what he was doing. "Warbird, Warbird! Be advised friendlies west of cliff face! Target is airborne! Danger close!"

"Roger, One-Seven. Rolling in hot."

Skuld looked up and saw Loki suddenly turn as green energy bolts shot past him, near enough to singe the Favrashi's wings. Two Avenging Angels from Pahana's squadron shot by overhead, chasing after the angel.

The young goddess was pulled from the scene by Valaris, who picked her up and threw her bodily into the back of the Stryker, climbing in behind her a moment later.

"Let's get out of here!" he shouted.

888

Urd gasped. She could feel it, moving around inside her soul. Shutting her eyes, she tried to expel it, but couldn't summon her powers with the snakes holding her. She gasped as it tore through her spirit, studying her memories, forming itself to her, growing in strength.

Tears formed in her eyes. "Gwydion, help me," she begged in a whisper.

She could feel it pause as it noticed something. For the first time, it realized it wasn't alone in there. Urd felt it too, knew that the intrusion had been noticed by her other half. She grit her teeth and spoke, hoping it could sense her command.

"Fuck that bitch up," she hissed angrily.

She convulsed as the two consciences collided, turning her soul into a battleground.

When Division Bell had first attempted to take Belldandy, Holy Bell, as a reflection of Belldandy, welcomed it in, was courteous, tried to find some compromise or way to coexist. By the time she realized it was fruitless, it was already too late.

World of Elegance, as Urd's other half, was far less accommodating.

Summer Rain watched Urd convulse again and stepped back in shock as two angels shot out of the goddess and flew against the far wall. Their faces identical, the only way to tell them apart was their wings. One angel had pure white wings while the other had one white and one black.

It was this angel that had seized the intruder by the throat and threw it bodily against one of the columns, smashing the ancient-looking piece of architecture into rubble. The white angel, Brave New World, responded quickly, throwing herself at World of Elegance.

Summer Rain turned to the other Favrashi. "We must hurry. Go close the hardline."

He nodded and rushed to the stone corridor. Just as he was about to emerge on the other side, he saw the glint of metal whip out at him from his right and felt the burning blade pass through his neck.

Gwydion was stumbling down the hall even as the angel sublimated behind him. When he emerged in the cavern, he had to duck to avoid the two angels as they hurtled at one another at dangerous speeds. Parts of the ceiling were collapsing from the force of their collisions with the walls.

He caught sight of Summer Rain watching the battle and crouched downward behind a stone. He moved to the right, ignoring the pain in his chest and legs and circled around.

888

Even though she wasn't technically fighting, Urd could feel her strength drain away as two parts of her soul fought in the air above her. Every hit one of them took she could feel in her own body. It was worse than fighting a demon. At least when she fought them, she didn't have to feel the blow she gave to the enemy.

She watched Brave New World get a grip on World of Elegance's hair and bring her into a choke-hold. The blended angel broke the grip and fired several bolts of black energy into the other angel, who shrugged it off and launched herself at her attacker.

The goddess convulsed with each landed blow, crying out in pain. It hurt so much, she gave a half second thought to calling World of Elegance off. Instead she grit her teeth and told the angel to stop holding back.

World of Elegance grabbed her opponent and climbed quickly toward the ceiling. Grasping the angel by the hair, she rammed her face into the stone ceiling over and over again. Urd's eyes rolled into the back of her head from the pain.

Summer Rain saw more debris fall from the ceiling and turned to find a better place to shelter herself. Instead, she found Gwydion standing there, his sword leveled at her throat.

"Call it off," he growled, arching his head toward the angels. "Call it off... Or I'm going to kill you."

Summer Rain smiled. "You're an avenging angel, a god of honor and duty. You could not kill an unarmed opponent in cold blood."

"Watch me," he replied coldly.

Her smile grew. "Surrender now, and when the others arrive, we will spare your life."

"The others aren't coming," he told her with a smile. "The destruct sequence has been set. In thirty minutes the Roundtable will be destroyed and so will this place."

The Favrashi's face curled up in rage. "BASTARD!" She launched herself forward and found herself impaled on Gwydion's saber.

She looked up at his eyes, a look of confusion on her cold features. "What?" she whispered and slowly sublimated until there was nothing left.

Looking up, his eyes went wide as he stumbled to the right just in time to avoid getting hit with one of the angels as it was thrown against the wall.

A moment later, Brave New World followed, wrapping her arms around World of Elegance's throat and throwing her bodily to the other side of the chamber.

He pulled his gaze from the fighting angels and saw Urd on the altar, convulsing painfully with each strike.

_If I don't put a stop to this, she's going to kill herself fighting it off,_ he thought.

"Bow," he called quietly. The one-eyed angel rose from his back. "Think you can hit the Favrashi without hitting World of Elegance?"

His angel smiled and closed his eye, concentrating his spiritual energy into his hands. From his fingers, a bow of light formed. Raising it, the angel aimed carefully and pulled back.

Gwydion closed his eyes and concentrated, lending his power to his angel. As his eyes shot open, Broken Bow released the arrow and the two watched as the bolt of light streaked across the chamber, embedding itself into one of the angels.

The two waited tensely. Finally, the angel with two white wings fell backward and dissipated into nothingness.

"We've still got it," Gwydion said with a slight smile. He limped to Urd's side.

888

"You came back for me."

She knew who it was who released the serpent cuffs and held her hand without having to open her eyes. When she did, she saw she was correct. Gwydion's concerned eyes looked down at her.

"Of course I did," he told her softly.

"Another god wouldn't," she pointed out quietly with a knowing smile. "How did you find me?"

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small orb, the same he had shown her before her meeting with Hild. "Your taste in jewelry."

The goddess smiled softly. She could still feel the simple silver ring he had given her on her finger. She had never taken it off.

"Can you walk? We have to get out of here before the whole realm explodes."

Her eyes closed again. "Gwydion, I'm so weak," she confessed. She opened her eyes and found his again. "You should go... leave me..."

The avenging angel shook his head. "No. We're getting out of here together. Come on. Get up." She felt his arm move around her and pull her into a sitting position.

"I need a minute," she begged. "Just one minute."

He gave it to her, leaving her for a moment and painfully kneeling next to Yazlyn's cape and rapier.

Urd's eyes found him there. "Gwydion, I'm so sorry..."

He picked up the weapon and clipped it to his belt. "She's with Gaeriel now," he said quietly. "Come on. We have to leave."

She nodded weakly. "Help me."

888

Urd did her best not to lean too heavily on Gwydion as he supported her in the run across Sanctuary toward the hardline. If what he said was true, they only had about twenty minutes to reach the Stryker outside the Favrashi base and get to the hardline to Earth that lay three miles away.

As they passed a familiar clearing, Urd turned her head and saw that the World Tree had grown more than a foot since she had touched it. She put it out of her mind. There was no time to stop.

When they arrived at the hardline, Urd took one last look at the peaceful forest before letting Gwydion lead her through the portal.

The difference between the two realms was dramatic. The entire plateau was shaking under her feet as they rushed though the dark tunnels toward the entrance. They could hear Butters' unorthodox method of counting down reverberate through the stone.

BA-OOMBA BA-OOMBA BUBBLEGUM! BA-OOMBA BA-OOMBA BUBBLEGUM! MY MOTHER GAVE ME A NICKEL! AND TOLD ME TO BUY A PICKLE! BUT I DIDN'T BUY A PICKLE! INSTEAD I BOUGHT BUBBLEGUM!

Gwydion looked up and saw daylight ahead. "Come on!" he urged her, enduring the pain as he dragged her outside. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

The entire Roundtable was coming apart. Arcs of purple electricity tore across the sky, literally slicing space time apart, leaving black patches of nothingness. Floating stones that normally floated lazily across the sky were being tossed left and right by the distortions in gravity and space.

Turning, he found that one of those bolts of nothingness had cleaved the remaining Stryker in two.

"That's going to make leaving difficult," Urd muttered.

"Come on," he urged, turning them both and starting in the direction of the hardline. "There's still time if we hurry!"

Urd struggled to keep up, but she was still weak from her ordeal in the Sanctuary. She just wanted to lie down and go to sleep, sleep for eternity, sleep and not wake up, but he wouldn't let her.

Pain lashed against the teacher as he helped/dragged his paramour across the plateau. If she were stronger and could fly, they would be at the hardline in no time, but Urd could barely stand as it was.

Another series of lightning bolts arced over them, and he watched wide-eyed as a floating island the size of a mountain crashed into the plateau a mile ahead of them. The ground lurched beneath their feet, and a wide fissure opened up right next to them. The plateau jolted downward, and Urd fell, sliding down toward the fissure of nothingness.

"Urd!" he yelled, diving forward after her. Summoning his strength, he launched Broken Bow ahead of him.

Below him, barely conscious, Urd couldn't stop her slide toward the fissure, but World of Elegance leapt from her back and reached out, grabbing Broken Bow's hand as they slid over the side. Gwydion found a protruding rock and grabbed hold of it, stopping their fall.

Holding Urd's hand on one side and Broken Bow's above her, World of Elegance looked down at the fissure and sighed in relief. Looking up, she winked at Broken Bow, and the two pulled Urd up.

888

Skuld flew out of the portal with a cry and turned back to it. The wind from the portal roared over her, cold and furious.

"That's everyone but the Commander and his team!" Pahana shouted, ducking as a bolt of lightning shot from the portal and sliced a nearby tree in half. "Comm! Can you raise them?!"

One of the avenging angels standing in the rock garden nearby shook his head. "Comm is all screwed up!" he said. "There's too much interference from the collapse!"

Pahana turned back to the portal as Skuld stood up. "Then we go back in there and get them! We don't leave our people behind!"

Skuld checked her watch. There wasn't much time left. Before she could tell Pahana that, another bolt of lightning shot from the portal and exploded nearby, forcing her to duck.

"Are the other hardlines closed!?" she asked.

"Central Dogma says everything is closed but this one," a tech shouted over the roar of the wind. "They want us to shut it now!" He held up a remote control for the portal.

Skuld snatched it out of his hand. "Just give them another minute," Skuld begged. "They'll just be another minute!"

888

Another earthquake sent them sprawling. Pulling Urd into his arms and climbing to his feet, Gwydion looked up and saw a broad swath of nothingness stretching across their path between them and the hardline. The wind was intensifying, and they had only managed to get a hundred yards or so from the cave.

He looked from side to side, searching for some other way out.

Urd seemed to sense his hopelessness. "Gwydion," she said weakly. "Before we die..."

"We're not going to die," he growled back. The lightning storm above them was raging, gathering matter into it in preparation for the imminent explosion. Despite what he said, it was over.

"I... I just want to say..." Urd continued. "That... That I love you..."

He looked across the expanse, thinking he could see the portal, watching it close.

It was time to stop fighting.

He held Urd close to him. "Hold on, love."

Above them, the Roundtable continued to tear itself apart as Urd lapsed into unconsciousness. The last thing she felt was her lover holding her tightly.

_"Sometimes, the things that must be done are_

_the very last things you want to do. But if you_

_aren't prepared to do them, then I don't want_

_you here."_

_Commander Skuld in_

_an address to 1__st__ Combat_

_Division inductees_

Skuld watched, her soul numb, as the portal closed in front of her. Her hand opened, dropping the control switch that had been forcing the portal to remain open.

"Portal is sealed," the tech announced.

The words struck Skuld's heart like hammer blows. "They're gone," she whispered.

"Skuld?! Urd?!"

She heard her sister call her name, but couldn't bring herself to turn. She felt Belldandy's hands grab her shoulders and swing her around, felt her sister hug her tightly, but it just wouldn't register in her mind.

"Skuld!" Belldandy cried, giving her a shake. "Are you okay? Skuld?"

Finally, the young goddess' eyes looked at her. "Oneesama?"

"Oh, Skuld! You're okay!" Belldandy held her tightly, crying in relief. "Where's Neesan?"

It broke over her like a dam, and Skuld screamed in pain, clutching at her sister like a lifeline. "ONEESAMA!"

Belldandy held her as she cried, realizing what Skuld couldn't yet say. Tears ran down her face as she rocked the younger goddess.

"It's okay," she sobbed. "It's okay. Shhhh."

888

"Every god and goddess serves Creation. And while every god and goddess may consciously realize that, few are ever asked to sacrifice their very being for its protection."

Standing before the assembled mixed group of gods and humans, Michael turned to the simple boulder upon which the names of the valkyries killed in the Roundtable were etched, sitting on the very spot where the hardline had been. The portal now refused to open as there was nothing to open to. The entire Roundtable was simply gone, just as they hoped. With all the hardlines shut, the shockwave stayed in the same realm with no effects on any of the others.

"Their sacrifice was not a vain or empty one," he told them. "And it ennobles all of us. We remember them here, with this simple marker."

He turned back to them, to their sad, mournful faces. "Amen," he finished.

The group murmurred the word together. As the crowd started to move inside, Michael touched Belldandy's shoulder, prompting her to turn.

"This place is holy to us now," he told her. "It will be protected."

She nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.

As Michael stepped past her, Belldandy saw Skuld standing over the monument. The young goddess knelt down and placed a simple gold coin at the base of the boulder. Standing up, she looked down at the coin, the same one she had offered to him the night before the mission.

"I'll always remember you," she whispered, her head bowed. "All of you."

Belldandy tried to remain completely silent, but Skuld must have sensed her presence because her next words were directed to her.

"Oneesama," she sobbed quietly. "What have I done?"

"Oh, Skuld," Belldandy replied sympathetically.

"Maybe if I had waited just another minute..."

She lifted her head as Belldandy touched her arm. Her sister's blue eyes were moist with grief of her own. "Perhaps if you had, billions would be dead now."

Skuld looked away. "I don't care."

"Yes you do," Belldandy corrected her. "That's why you took that oath. Skuld, the role you've assumed for yourself isn't just about risking your own life, but balancing the lives of others against the greater good."

The younger goddess wiped a tear away. "Over the past six months, our relationship just got so good, you know?" Skuld said. "She didn't treat me like a kid, helped me with my studies and... And for the first time I... I really looked up to her like a sister. Like the way I look at you, Oneesama." She sniffled as more tears came. "I don't know if she saw me the same way or not, but do you think she knew... knew that I was the one who killed them?"

Belldandy pulled the girl bodily into her arms and hugged her tightly. "Skuld, Urd loved you," she sobbed quietly. "She knew, better than most of us, what was at stake. What you did would have made her so proud of you."

The young goddess cried into her sister's shirt. "I miss her so much, Oneesama!"

"I know," Belldandy whispered to her as she held her. "I do too."

"What do I do now?"

Belldandy thought on it for a moment. "Remember her like that," she said. "Remember her like that, and she'll always be with us. Always."

888

They always made it difficult for him, especially Belldandy. Whenever something bothered her, she didn't just sit on the back steps. No, she had to float to the roof of the temple to think about the things that were bothering her. And while it was quite easy for her to do so, when the time came for Keiichi to perform his duty as her fiancé and console her, he had to drag a ladder out of the shed, set it up, and climb to the roof in the middle of the night.

Stepping carefully, he finally found her sitting at the apex of the roof, looking out at the city lights of Nekomi.

"Hey," he called quietly, sitting down next to her.

She seemed to hesitate for a minute, then leaned against him. He reacted naturally, putting his arm around her.

"Thinking about Urd?" he asked softly.

"I'm an awful person, Keiichi," she admitted quietly.

"What?"

She looked down at her lap, tears threatening to run down her cheek. "Everything she's done, everything she's sacrificed... And yet all I can think about is how her death impacts my life."

"Well... yeah," he replied. "Urd's always affected us in one way or another. Now that she's gone... There's a void. It's just natural to be aware of that."

She wiped her eyes with her fingers. "I'm trying to be strong," she said. "Skuld is devastated. She was close to all three of them. I'm trying to be there for her, but... I keep thinking back to things I did or said... I didn't even get a chance to say 'good bye,' or 'I love you.'"

Keiichi turned away for a second. "She did."

"Huh?" the Norn asked, turning to him.

"When we knocked you out," he admitted. "She leaned over you and said, 'Be happy.'" He turned to her. "She... She knew, you see."

"What?"

He nodded. "She knew she wouldn't come back. Said Frigga saw something about it."

"Then why did she go?" Belldandy whispered, shutting her eyes and forcing tears out.

"For the same reason you were going to," he told her. "Because she loved you and Skuld. And she would have done anything to keep you safe."

The goddess let out a sob and embraced him. "Keiichi!"

He hugged her tightly. "It's okay," he whispered, choking back a sob of his own. "It's all right."

"Everything is going to be all right."

He tried not to, but he suddenly found himself chuckling. Belldandy pulled away and blinked at him. "What is it?" she asked, puzzled as to why he would be laughing _now._

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I was just remembering the first time I met her. When she was posing as a pharmacist in that silly pink nurse's outfit, and she gave me that medicine for your headaches."

She wiped a tear away and started to blush as she smiled. "You know that wasn't aspirin, right?" she asked. "It was... well... an aphrodesiac..."

His chuckles evolved into full blown laughter.

"She was always doing something like that," Belldandy said with a giggle. "I swear it was as if she couldn't leave any situation alone."

"Remember during the Miss Nekomi Pageant when she electrocuted Sayoko?" he asked.

"That's not funny! She could have been really hurt!" Belldandy admonished him. Keiichi waited several seconds, and finally saw Belldandy's lips curl up and her shoulders shake in a giggling fit.

He leaned back, resting on the palms of his hands. "I never told you, but Urd was the reason we _had_ to go to that rock outcropping at the beach," he told her. "She said she could see our destiny written in some sea cucumbers..."

"Oh, Keiichi, please tell me you didn't fall for that..."

"We got to the rocks, didn't we?" he asked.

She laughed and hugged him and continued holding him as they reminisced. Finally, grief-spurred tears were replaced with tears of laughter, which over time finally tapered off.

"Thank you," she whispered, still holding him. "That's how I want to remember her."

He stroked her hair and held her tightly. "She's not really dead," he whispered. "As long as we remember her."

The two held each other as the moon continued its steady rise overhead.

EPILOGUE

_"I don't want to hear your bullshit excuses!_

_I would have felt it if she died! I want her __found!"_

_Hild _

_From a communique_

_issued to her field __commanders_

She cried out as she awoke, tossing the blankets off her body and then cradling them to her chest a moment later in fright. Looking from side to side, she began to wonder if it had all been a dream. Perhaps she was back in Heaven or in the temple residence back on Earth.

The furnishings of the room in which she found herself, however, discounted either of those possibilities. The small bed with the rustic wood frame she lay in was identical to three others like it in the room, like a hospital or dormitory.

Closing her eyes, she tried to get control of her breathing. Freaking out wasn't going to solve anything. Pulling the covers off her, she climbed out of bed and quietly opened the bedroom door. A long hallway met her on the other side, and she could see a light coming from what she guessed was a stairwell to her right. She quietly padded barefoot down the hallway toward it, straining her ears for the first sign of trouble.

As she approached the stairwell, her nostrils picked up the faint smell of cooking. Creeping down the stairs, she willed the wooden steps not to creak. Taking a breath, she steadied herself then quickly descended the last few steps, ready to do battle.

Gwydion looked up from the stove where a couple of eggs were sizzling.

"Urd!" he gasped.

"Gwydion?!" she cried back. She didn't waste time with questions. Instead, she flung herself at him and hugged him tightly even as he cried out in pain and fell backwards onto the kitchen floor.

Even as the pain racked his body, he held her. "I thought I might have lost you for good," he admitted in amazed relief.

"What happened? Where are we?" she asked.

Struggling to his feet, he found his cane and leaned on it. "We're in the pocket universe," he told her simply. "With the Roundtable falling apart around us, I knew we'd never get to the hardline to Earth, especially after you passed out. So I double backed here and managed to close the hardline just before the final explosion."

"So... we're alive, right?" she asked, still uncertain.

He smiled. "Yes, we are most certainly alive."

She leaned against the counter and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "So this must be that lodge I saw. How long have I been out?"

"Five days," he replied. "I was starting to think... that you'd never come out of it," he told her quietly.

His concern both touched her and made her uncomfortable at the same time. "Okay," she said. "Now what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that I haven't been able to locate another hardline out," he told her. "And my travel medium doesn't seem to work either."

"And it won't," she admitted. "This place was designed to be hidden and cut off."

"So we're trapped here," he finished.

"Great," she sighed. "Trapped on a tiny plot of land for the rest of our lives."

"Actually, that's something I wanted to ask you about," he told her, shutting off the stove as he went. "Follow me."

Puzzled, she followed him up the stairwell and down the hall to another flight of stairs that led up to a widow's walk on the roof of the lodge. Stepping out into the sunlight, Urd gasped at what she saw.

The violet walls were gone. Instead, she saw only blue sky and lush green forests divided by the distant horizon. Tall cliffs stretched beyond the horizon with massive waterfalls causing a gentle roar in the distance. Clouds floated lazily above them.

"It happened about the second day we were here," Gwydion told her. "I noticed the walls were getting further and further apart."

Without a word, Urd rushed back down the stairwell, and this time it was Gwydion's turn to follow as she rushed out the front door and into the forest. The avenging angel struggled to keep up with her and finally found her in a small clearing about a quarter mile from the lodge.

"Urd! What is it?" he asked.

The goddess stood beneath a tree that stretched a hundred feet into the air. Sparks of light floated from its branches into the sky above.

"It's growing," she said quietly.

"What?" he asked, a bewildered look on his face.

She turned to him and smiled. "The World Tree," she explained. "It's growing."

Urd continued as he walked up to her. "It's why they needed a Norn," she said. "They could plant it, but they couldn't make it grow. Then, when I arrived and touched it..." She trailed off and gestured to it.

"So, this isn't some pocket reality at all," he concluded. "It's the beginning of a whole new realm."

She nodded. "Have you seen any stars at night?"

He nodded. "As a matter of fact, I saw one for the first time last night."

Urd's eyes danced with excitement. "More will come as the realm grows. Gwydion..."

She shook her head. "They did it," Urd whispered in awe. "They created a world without sin. And as hidden as it is, it might be millenia before anyone in Heaven even notices it."

The soldier chewed on that statement. "Then it's up to us to find a way out of here," he announced. "If this World Tree is a cutting of the one on Earth, then maybe the two are connected, and we can..."

"Gwydion, stop," she ordered quietly. As he turned back to her in surprise, she continued. "Just stop."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Don't you see?" she asked. "It's your wish given life. There's no enemy here, no reason to fight. It's just the two of us." Her thoughts ran back to her last conversation with Frigga.

"_Mother of a new world..."_

"And I think... this is the way it's supposed to be," she finished.

He regarded her for several moments. "You're saying we have an entire realm to ourselves?" he asked.

She cleared her throat. "Well... I admit it's a little big for just the two of us."

"Just a bit," he agreed cautiously.

She arched an eyebrow at him and bit her lip with a hint of nervousness. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be Eve, Gwydion."

He reached out and took her hand. "Something tells me we have plenty of time to think on it," he told her.

"But if this is where we're supposed to be and if this is the role we're supposed to play... I'm glad I'm here with you." She smiled and shook her head. "It's just so big," she remarked, looking out at the forest.

"For now," he told her and smiled as an earlier conversation with his student came back to him. "Give it a million years, though, and maybe we'll start to find it crowded." He turned to her. "So what do you want to do first?"

She leaned forward and kissed him. Though she spent the last several days unconscious, she felt as if she hadn't been able to relax in weeks. For the first time since she had followed him to Heaven, there was no danger, no reason to be on edge.

She could finally relax.

"I want to take a walk," she said with a knowing smile after their lips parted. "Would you like to come with me?"

He caressed her cheek with his fingertips. "Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, I would."

Taking his hand, she led him back down the path away from the World Tree, which seemed to pay its only tenants no mind as it sparkled and grew another few feet.

THE END

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Mariko smacked at her daughter-in-law's hand as the younger woman tried to help her into bed.

"I don't need a babysitter to tuck me in!" the old woman exclaimed.

"Now, now, Kaasan," her son, Keiichi's uncle, said sympathetically. "You know what the doctor said. It's probably just exhaustion. You need your rest."

Outside, thunder cracked and lightning illuminated the room as if to underline how the elderly Morisato felt about the whole situation.

"It is _not_ exhaustion!" she snapped at him. "I saw it!"

"Yes, Kaasan, we know," her son said with a sigh. "You saw a dancing rat at Keiichi's house. We know."

"Don't take that tone with me!"

Eager to change the subject, her daughter-in-law tried to intervene. "What was Keiichi's fiancé like?" she asked cheerfully. "I hear she's from Finland."

Mariko growled and pulled the covers up. "Just go!"

"Okay, Kaasan, we're going," her son said, giving up and leading his wife out of the room, turning out the lights before shutting the door.

Mariko huffed and rolled over in her bed, facing away from the window and storm outside. A sharp thundercrack caused her to open her eyes, and a moment later, a bolt of lightning illuminated the far wall, highlighting a shadowy shape projected from the window.

Blinking, she turned quickly back to the window as another bolt of lightning illuminated it again. Gasping, she held the blankets tightly to her chest.

Standing on the windowsill on the other side of the glass, Gan chan narrowed his eyes at her dangerously.

"KamisamaKamisamaKamisama..." Mariko whispered fearfully.

There was another thunderclap, and as lightning illuminated the room, Mariko screamed as Gan chan began to do The Monkey.


End file.
